Avenging Avatar Lost Episode Versions
by TheWriterForGod42
Summary: Just the two separate versions of Avenging Avatar Chapter 13. I thought about how much you liked both versions even after I replaced them and decided to allow you to still be able to read them.
1. Chapter 1

Hey everybody! I'm back and with another episode of Avenging Avatar. I'm on the fourth disc now and should be done with Book 1 in a few weeks if I keep on going with this story. Sorry if I made any of you worry, I had a few others that I wanted to work on.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Avatar the Last Airbender or the Avengers (MCU), only the story. Avatar the Last Airbender and its characters belongs to Nickelodeon and Avengers belongs to Marvel. I apologize for any errors in grammar and/or if I was not accurate in reference to something.

x

**Katara: **Water, Soldier, Mechanist, God, Earth, Fire, Spy, Archer, Monster, Air

(One by one, eight figures do something to show off their skills: the waterbender weaves a stream of water from the ground, around him and then thrusts it towards the side, the soldier blocks an attack with his shield before throwing it, the mechanist has armor envelope him and then uses the repulsor on his hand to blast something on the side, the god holds a powerful hammer high to summon a bolt of lightning, the earthbender kicks the ground bringing up a large rock before he kicks it away, the firebender twists around as she summons fire from her foot before doing a high kick to the ground and makes the flames spread, the spy drops down from above and displays a few moves, the archer rolls across the ground and fires a few arrows, and finally the monster comes down from a jump and smashes his huge fists on the ground, the airbender drops down and then with a circle of his arms he creates a blast of wind.)

**Katara: **Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked.

(Docked on a shore, five Fire Nation ships with the Hydra insignia released their soldiers. With a jump forward and a palm thrust, the firebenders released a wave of fire as the Hydra soldiers used their advanced technology.)

**Katara: **Only the Avatar, master of all four elements could stop them. But when the world needed him most, he vanished.

(The Avatar, a man with a crown on his head and dressed in robes stands on a pillar of stone as he bent the four elements of water, earth, fire and air to show his skill in the arts of bending. After releasing a powerful disk of wind, he disappears from existence.)

**Katara: **A hundred years passed and my brother and I discovered the new Avatar: an Airbender named Aang and met the team called the Avengers.

(The water tribe siblings find a young Airbender frozen in block of ice. After freeing him, they are then joined by heroes called Captain America, Ironman, Thor, Hulk, Clint, and Natasha.)

**Katara: **And although with the teams help and his airbending skills are great**, **hehas a lot to learn before he's ready to save anyone.

(At an Air Nomad path, Aang creates an air scooter and starts to have fun with it. But when he expands his circle a little bit, he runs right into a statue. He rolls over onto his back as all six of the Avengers then poke their heads from behind the statue to check on him.)

**Katara: **But I believe the Avengers and Aang can save the world.

(Aang, Steve, Katara, Tony, Thor, Bruce, Sokka, Clint and Natasha stand side by side, looking down at the world on a mountain's peak for a moment as the reader's view is turned upwards to the sun.)

**Nickelodeon and Marvel**

**The Avenging Avatar**

x

**Avatar Roku: **_Previously, on Avenging Avatar…_

_Prince Zuko, General Iroh and the Winter Soldier had just come off of the damaged ship. Prince Zuko sounded a little desperate as he said, "I want to make the repairs as quickly as possible, I don't want to lose his trail."_

"_You mean the Avatar's?" Iroh asked. Prince Zuko turned to him and warned, "Don't mention his name on these docks. Once word gets out that he's alive, every Firebender will be out looking for him, and I don't want anyone getting in the way."_

"_Getting in the way of what?" Another voice questioned. All three men turned to see a Fire Nation officer walk up them as he asked, "Prince Zuko?"_

"_Captain Zhao." Prince Zuko said with crossed arms. Zhao had a smirk on his face as he corrected him, "It's commander now."_

"_No home, no allies." Zhao states as he looks down on the prince before adding the topper, "Your own father doesn't even want you."_

"_Bucky." Cap said as he saw his friend on Kyoshi Island._

"_There's a storm coming." A fisherman's wife tried to tell her husband. Aang's eyes grew wide as she said, "A bad one."_

"_Storm clouds are gathering." Monk Gyatso says during telling Aang that he was the Avatar._

"_I'm done dwelling on the past." Aang said as he came to terms with what happened._

x

**Chapter Thirteen**

**The Red and Blue Spirits**

Somewhere along the coast of the colonized Earth Kingdom, a messenger hawk made its way over the ocean towards a Fire Nation fortress. It screeched as it veered right before moving to the left again. At least three guards were posted at the battlements with more patrolling each wall from the main building.

Within one of the walls, a group of ten archers with one with its back turned practice their skills as the lead archer removed one from his quiver. With deadly precision and accuracy, the archer let loose three arrows. Each arrow hit the target in the center, with the following arrow slicing through the one before. While the four in front joined the first archer, they were being watched from above by two officers with their hands behind their backs.

"Absolutely not." The man next to Commander Zhao said. He stated firmly, "The Yu Yan archers stay here." He didn't have any sympathetic emotions as he said, "Your request is denied, Commander Zhao."

"Colonel Shinu, please reconsider." Commander Zhao said with a glance to his superior. Then he retold of their skills, "Their precision is legendary.

"The Yu Yan can pin a fly to a tree from one hundred yards away…" He said as an archer drew back four arrows. The archer took his time aiming as the Commander finished, "without killing it."

The archer then released all four, and each arrow hit a target dead center. Zhao was a little bold as he turned to the Colonel and said, "You're wasting their talents using them as mere security guards."

Colonel Shinu didn't take it too kindly as he looked to Commander Zhao and stated his position, "I can do whatever I want with their talents. They're my archers, and what I say goes."

"But my search for the Avatar is…" Commander Zhao began to say, but Colonel Shinu stepped up to the taller man and cut him off, "Is nothing but a vanity project.

"We're fighting a real war here and I need every man I've got," Shinu then said with a scorn, "Commander."

"But…" Commander Zhao tried to say, but the Colonel wouldn't hear any more of it, "That's final. I don't want to hear another word about it."

Commander Zhao scowled with an angry grunt at being denied.

"_Oh, you will not have to worry about man power for long, Colonel._" A disembodied voice said, frightening both men. Then a blue flash of light caused both men to turn around as a vortex opened up in the battlement. Both Commander and Colonel's eyes were wide as the Red Skull stepped before them with the portal closing behind him. Both Fire Nation officers bowed in respect to their ally as the Colonel then said, "Johann Schmidt, honored leader of our allies from Hydra. It is an honor to have you at our fortress."

"At ease, the both of you." The Red Skull said. Zhao and Shinu then stood tall as the Commander then asked, "With permission to ask, sir, what brings you here?"

Johann Schmidt chuckled as he walked past them to observe the Yu Yan archers. As another archer hit the target dead center again, the leader of Hydra then said, "On my way here, I couldn't help but over hear your conversation through space. And I believe that you both have made good points. And that is why I am here to give the both of you good news."

He turned his head to a spot behind the archers and held up his hand. Both Fire Nation officer's eyes grew wide as a blue vortex opened up behind them. The Yu Yan archers looked back to see a single file line of soldiers joining them on the fortress grounds. Each soldier was dressed in a suit of armor that was designed in the same fashion as most of the Fire Nation army. The only difference in the two was that the Hydra soldiers wore helmets fashioned from the World War Two era, and on the chest plate was the trademark insignia of Hydra, not to mention the huge blasters they carried in their hands. The Red Skull looked to the Colonel and said, "I am giving you at least forty Hydra soldiers. The rest will need to be taken to other locations in the colonies along the Earth Kingdom."

When the final two Hydra soldiers stepped through the portal, Johann Schmidt stopped using his powers. Turning back to the two gentlemen with him he said, "Of course, and as I had explained to his majesty, after using much of the Tesseracts power, I will be out of commission for a small while."

"We understand, sir." Colonel Shinu said with a bow. Commander Zhao then said, "What news do you have for me, sir? Does it have to do something with the Avatar?"

"In a way it does." The Red Skull said with a smirk. He raised his head when he heard a caw coming from outside the fortress. All three men looked out to see a messenger hawk land. The Colonel allowed the bird to land on his arm and was about to reach for the parchment in its pack when Johann Schmidt said, "I doubt you will like what you learn."

Colonel Shinu gave the red skulled man an odd glance before proceeding. He removed the message from the pack while making the hawk jump onto the battlement. As he read it, Shinu's eyes grew wide with surprise, making Zhao interested as he walked up behind the Colonel and asked, "News from Fire Lord Ozai?" He took a quick glance at the Red Skull and asked, "Is it good?"

"You tell me." Johann Schmidt said with his smirk intact. Commander Zhao takes the parchment from the Colonel and looked down at it, and a smirk formed on his face as he stated, "It appears I've been promoted to admiral."

His smirk remained as he turned to the Colonel and said, "My request is now an order."

Colonel Shinu bowed to his new superior before walking down the stairs. The new admiral walked back over to where he could view the archers and the newly acquired Hydra soldiers. The Red Skull raises his hand once more to open another portal. He looked to Admiral Zhao and said, "Happy hunting to you, Admiral Zhao."

Zhao smirked over at Johann Schmidt before looking down as the archers returned to their practice. The Red Skull then took his leave without another word. But up on top of the battlement's cover, the three men had been unaware that their conversation had been listened on. Two men dressed in black, one with a sword strapped to his back and the other with rifle on his own. And both men wore a mask, one red and the other blue. And both of the masks were decorated with the face of an angry spirit.

The two masked spirits slowly backed away when they had all the information they needed to know.

x

In another part of the Earth Kingdom, dark clouds rolled over an abandoned city built into the side of a mountain. Even from the bottom of the mountain city, a loud cough could be heard. Inside their hiding place somewhere within the city, Sokka laid against Appa's side as he tried to fight off a sickness that was taking its toll on his body.

Aang, Steve and Natasha backed away as Sokka went into another coughing fit. Katara remained by her brother's side as she came closer and placed a wet rag on his forehead while saying, "This should bring your fever down."

"Poor Sokka." Nat muttered as she looked down on the Water Tribe Teen. Steve nodded in agreement, silently thankful that the super soldier serum kept him healthy.

Sokka trembled from his illness, but he smiled as he nasally said, "You know what I love about Appa the most?" He looked at the bison's head and said, "His sense of humor."

"That's nice. I'll tell him." Katara said. Appa growled in acknowledgment to his words. Thinking that it had been a joke, Sokka started to chuckle and then said, "Classic Appa."

Aang walked back over with staff and a scroll in hand and asked, "How's Sokka doing, guys?"

"Not so good." Katara admitted. Natasha was in full agreement and said, "The poor kid looks like a dog after a really hot bath."

Steve gave her an odd look but chose not to question her words. Weirded out herself, Katara then said, "Being out in that storm really did a number on him."

"Makes me wonder if the old man that was with you is in bed as well." Steve wondered out loud. Sokka continued to shudder and then sucked a trail of snot back in. All four of his friends looked down at him in worry while Aang said, "I couldn't find any gingerroot for the tea," But then he held up the scroll and said, "but I found a map."

Kneeling down with the two Avengers joining him the young airbender said, "There's an herbalists' institute on the top of that mountain."

The three of them looked to a far mountain as dark clouds kept rolling by. Aang then suggested, "We could probably find a cure for Sokka there."

"Aang, he's in no condition to travel." Katara argued about her brother. She then said, "Sokka just needs more rest."

"And I do agree with that." Steve said as he stood up from looking down at the map. He then pointed out, "Moving him around might make him worse."

"I'm sure he'll be better by tomorrow." Katara said with a smile. Katara then started to cough, and by the sound and length of it, it sounded terrible. The other three backed away to prevent her from coughing on them. Each looked really worried as Aang said in distress, "Not you too."

"Relax, it was just a little cough. I'm fi…" Katara said with a wave as if to shrug it off. But she was proven wrong as she had a major coughing fit. She groaned as she fully acknowledged that she was indeed sick. Aang had shielded himself to avoid being coughed on, and when he lowered his arm, he reminisced about the first of the ill, "That's how Sokka started yesterday." Then he turned to the sick teen and said, "Now look at him, he thinks he's an Earthbender."

"Take that, you rock!" The sick Sokka shouted while trying to punch at an imaginary rock before slumping with his arms crossed. Aang looked to Katara and said, "A few more hours and you'll be talking nonsense, too."

Standing up, Aang, Steve and Natasha stood up as the Avatar stated, "We're going to find some medicine."

He stood up and was about to head out when Natasha let out a huge sneeze. Aang and Steve looked to the spy with a raised eyebrow. She then got defensive by saying, "What? It was only one little sneeze. It's nothing to make a fuss about."

Then she took a deep breath before letting out a storm of coughs. Aang quickly backed up to Steve's side as Natasha covered her mouth. When she looked back up to the two healthy boys, Steve pointed with a finger at Appa. Natasha slumped her shoulders as she knew that it meant that she should rest. The red haired spy walked over with her shoulders sagging to the only unoccupied bison leg. Natasha laid down as Steve turned to Aang and said, "Let's go see this herbalist."

"Wait," Aang interjected. This stopped Steve from moving as the young Airbender said, "Maybe one of us should stay behind." He pointed out as he looked to their sick friends, "With most of us being sick, it would probably do them some good to have someone watch over them."

Steve knew that Aang had good point, but was unsure about letting him go alone and asked, "Are you sure that you want to go alone? As we all know, there is a whole nation that has a price on your head."

"Don't worry, Steve." Aang reassured as he patted the super soldier on the arm, "I'll be there and back again. No detours. I promise."

As he started walking away, a thought occurred to him and said, "But how are you not getting sick? You were out in that storm as long as the rest of us, but-?"

"Super soldier serum, I guess." Steve said with a shrug of his shoulders. Aang did the same and walked off to the opening.

Aang then walked over to the opening and unfolded his glider. But before he could take off, a bolt of lightning and a blast of thunder caused him to look up at the sky in worry. As he refolded his glider he said, "Uh… maybe it's safer if I go on foot."

"Good idea, kid." Steve said with a nervous smile. Setting the glider down, Aang turned back and said to Steve, Appa and Momo, "Keep an eye on them, guys."

Appa growled, Momo chittered and Steve nodded to Aang while Sokka cackled in amusement. He turned to Appa and Momo, shouting, "You guys are killing me!"

"If he doesn't rest, they just might." Nat replied. Aang looked to his friends in worry, but still turned and jumped high into the air. When he landed closer to the base of the mountain, he took off full speed towards the far mountain.

Back up in the hideout, Steve turned to the others and said, "I'm going to get more firewood and maybe anything else that may be useful." Looking to Appa he said, "Be sure to watch them. Hopefully I won't be gone too long."

Appa growled as Steve left them alone.

x

Along the Earth Kingdom coast, Prince Zuko's ship sailed under the same dark skies. Inside the cabin at the top of the ship, the prince looked over his lieutenant's shoulder as the older man said, "We haven't been able to pick up the Avatar and Avenger's trail since the storm."

General Iroh was currently playing Pai Sho with another crew member while the Winter Soldier watched in interest from behind. The lieutenant had a finger touching a map at a spot between the Earth Kingdom and the Air Nomad territories while saying, "But if we continue heading northeast..."

A large shadow blocked whatever sun was able to shine in the cabin. Everyone looked up to see a much larger Fire Navy ship pull up beside them. Prince Zuko was didn't understand it as he questioned, "What do they want?"

"Perhaps a sporting game of Pai Sho." General Iroh guessed in high hopes while rubbing his hands together.

A few minutes later…

When the larger ship had lowered its ramps, a few of the crew, consisting of three Fire Navy soldiers and three Hydra soldiers, from it had made their way up to the cabin. The leader of the group unrolled a scroll in front of Prince Zuko and said, "The hunt for the Avatar and the Avengers has been given prime importance."

The scroll, revealing to be a wanted poster of Aang, Captain America and Natasha Romanoff, was then put away as the Fire Navy soldier then said with his hands behind his back, "All information regarding the Avatar or either of the Avengers must be reported directly to Admiral Zhao."

"Zhao has been promoted?" General Iroh asked as he was about to move a piece. Then sliding it he said, "Well, good for him."

When two of the crew saw Iroh's move, one face palmed while the other grimaced. Prince Zuko scowled as he looked down and said, "I've got nothing to report to Zhao." Then he looked to the soldiers and ordered, "Not get off my ship and let us pass."

"Admiral Zhao is not allowing ships in or out of this area." The soldier stated. This made Zuko snap as he angrily shouted, "Off my ship!"

The three Fire Navy soldiers didn't say anything as they turned and left with the Winter Soldier watching with narrowed eyes. As they left, Iroh was the only one happy at the moment as he had won and said, "Excellent." Then moving all of the chips to his side he said, "I take the pot."

This discouraged the three crewmen, the two sitting looked bummed while the third whom was standing punched the side of his head. But Iroh was not one of those to gloat and reassured them by saying, "But you are all improving." Then he told them, "I'm certain you will win if we play again."

And the three crewmen set to do that and started a new game. The Winter Soldier looked from the four Pai Sho players over to Prince Zuko as he stared out the window. The assassin of Hydra had been among this crew a long time to know to see when the Prince was truly angry.

x

Along a trail on a mountain side, a duo of Fire Nation scouts were currently on lookout in a treehouse. While one looked through a telescope, the other sat back and read from the poster, "Says here that the Avatar can create tornadoes and run faster than the wind." He was slightly impressed as he lowered the poster and looked to his partner and said, "Pretty amazing."

"Ah," The other scout said in disbelief. He looked back to his fellow scout and said, "that's just a bunch of Fire Lord propaganda. There's no way that's true."

He looked back through the telescope on the path right as something fast came down it. The scout with the telescope's eyes grew wide as Aang ran past them. His speed was so great that it caused the treehouse to be destroyed and left the duo wide eyed in shock. The scout that saw the Avatar come and go raised a horn and blew hard to signal whom ever could hear it.

x

Katara, Sokka and Natasha continued to lie against Appa as the continued to feel sick. While Natasha and Katara tried to get some rest, Sokka felt awful as he said, "Katara, please… water."

Katara opened her eyes and looked to the sleeping Momo next to her. Then she sat up and said, "Listen carefully, Momo." Holding up the water pouch she said, "I need you to take this to the river and fill it with water."

But in Momo's mind, he cooed as he processed the information as if Katara were speaking gibberish while moving her hand as if to show him what to do. Then she asked, "Got it?"

Momo purred and Katara held out the water pouch. The little flying lemur unfolded his wings as he took the pouch with a back foot. Then he took off with it and chittered as he carried it off.

Katara sighed as she laid back down. Just as she closed her eyes, she heard Natasha say, "Yeah, that's not going to end as you want it to."

Katara, though not turning, threw the spy a small glare before closing her eyes to rest.

x

Aang had finally made it to the far mountain and was currently running up the steps to reach the herbalist's place. Aang panted as he continued to climb. When he reached the top, he stood in a gate way before the institute. Then he quickly made his way to find someone. Aang went into the closest building and found himself in an herb garden.

A cat meowed before moving out of Aang's way and jumped on a table as he made his way towards an old woman. She wore faded green Earth Kingdom robes and had a twig in the bun of her hair. He spoke fast, "Hello! I'm sorry to barge in like this, but I need some medicine for my friends." He became a little frantic as he said while she stirred something, "They have fevers, and they've been coughing, and…"

"Settle down, young man." The woman said as she picked the cup up. She then reassured him by saying, "Your friends are going to be fine.

"I've been up here for over forty years, you know." The herbalist told a little about her history while moving about the room. She seemed a little sad when she said, "Used to be others, but they all left years ago." She reached her hand out to a purring cat as she said, "Now it's just me and Miyuki."

Aang looked a little bored from the story, but was still polite when he said with a raised eyebrow, "That's nice."

"Wounded Earth Kingdom troops still come by now and again," The herbalist said as she started stirring again. She looked to Aang as she said with a smile, 'brave boys. And thanks to my remedies, they always leave in better shape than when they arrived."

"That's nice; are you almost done?" Aang asked, still feeling the need to hurry. But the old woman didn't seem so as she said while moving towards the many plant, "Hold on, I just need to add one last ingredient." She looked amongst the plants and searched, 'No… sandalwood…" She looked about and said, "Oh, let's… no, that won't do." Then she guessed, "Banana leaf and… nope."

Aang's face fell and an eye twitched in slight impatience while she continued to search, "Gingerroot, uh-uh.

"Oh, where is that pesky little plant?" The herbalist questioned. This caused Aang to groan and facepalm to this. As his had brushed against his face, an eyebrow twitched from the annoyance.

x

The sun was beginning to set as Prince Zuko's ship continued to sail under a cloudy sky. The prince was on deck practicing his firebending to try to get rid of the stress. The moves he threw a fire punch, then an overhead wave of fire, followed by a diagonal fire flow, a fire palm, then a low fire punch. Then he turned with another fire punch, finishing with a high fire kick.

"Is everything okay?" His uncle asked as he arrived on the scene with his hands in his sleeves. He seemed truly worried for his nephew when he said, "It's been almost an hour, and you haven't given the men an order."

"I don't care what they do." Prince Zuko said to his uncle before looking away.

"Don't give up hope yet." Iroh told him. He tried to make Zuko see the bright side by saying, "You can still find the Avatar before Zhao. And the Winter Soldier with the two Avengers."

"How, Uncle?" Prince Zuko questioned as he turned to the older man. He sounded as if he had given up as he pointed out, "With Zhao's resources, it's just a matter of time before he captures the Avatar or the Avengers.

"My honor, my throne, my country-" Prince Zuko thought about if Zhao was to succeed in capturing the Avatar. He turned to face the sea as he said, "I'm about to lose them all."

Unbeknownst to the two, the Winter Soldier had been listening in on the conversation. Memories of old started to come back to him.

x

The sun was nearly gone at the herbalist institute. Inside the floral garden, the old woman had finally found what she was looking for and said, "Oh, here's what I was looking for…" She reached up for a flower while saying with a chuckle, "Plum blossom."

"Finally." Aang said as he stood up straight from the waiting. The woman had just dropped the flower into the cup when Aang suddenly grabbed it and quickly said, "Thanks for all your help."

But the old woman didn't like this as she smacked his hand with her spoon and said, "Hands off!"

"Ow!" Aang shouted from the pain. The woman glared at him as she questioned, "What do you think you're doing?"

"Taking the cure to my friends." Aang responded as his eyebrow twitched. This caused the old woman to laugh before she said, "This isn't a cure." Then setting the bowl down she said, "It's Miyuki's dinner."

The cat started to eat while the old woman petted the cat's back and said, "Plum blossom is her favorite."

"What about my friends?" Aang asked, still having nothing to help them. The old woman had a smile as she said, "Well, all they need is some frozen wood frogs." Then she told him where to find them, "There's plenty of them down in the valley swamp."

"What am I supposed to with frozen frogs?" Aang asked with a weirded out face. She sounded crazy as she said, "Why, suck on them, of course."

"Suck on them?!" Aang questioned with a completely weirded out face and an eye twitch. Then the herbalist explained, "The frog skin excretes a substance that'll cure your friends," but then she warned, "but make sure you get plenty. Once those little critters thaw out, they're useless."

Both Aang and the herbalist stared at each other while Miyuki at her dinner until Aang said, "You're insane, aren't you?"

"That's right." The herbalist said with pride. She turned back to her cat before noticing that Aang hadn't moved an inch. With an annoyed glance she said, "Well, don't stand there all day. Go!"

She flung a spoon of Miyuki's dinner at him. The food splattered against his face, with his eyes luckily closed. He blinked them open in surprise before turning to leave.

He ran outside the botanical hut, but before he could go very far two arrows sailed through the air and pinned his feet. He shouted as he tried to keep his balance, "Whoa!"

He fell to his knees, and as he stood up he heard the sound of more arrows whizzing towards him. Aang's eyes grew wide as he watched the arrows coming at him. But before they could reach him, Aang bent an air sphere around himself that deflected each arrow. The deflected arrows then scattered about across the institute grounds, becoming imbedded in either the ground or nearby trees. Aang released his shield while kneeling down to remove an arrow from his shoe.

Ripping the arrow out, he then held it up and said, "Uh, I think you dropped this."

The archers in the trees readied more of their arrows and prepared to fire again. Aang's eyes were truly wide as his right eyebrow twitched. Quickly kneeling down again, Aang grunted as he struggled to remove the second arrow in his shoe. On the last tug, he looked up to see the archers release four more arrows. The arrow in his shoe came out and allowed him to dodge the new projectiles. Then he ran out of the way of another set of four. Aang tried to run to the gate of the institute, but stopped when four more archers rose up with bows at the ready. He yelled while he created a small cyclone as he jumped over the arrows. But then he gasped when he saw three figures joining the archers at the gate. Aang noticed these men carried strange looking weapons and an insignia of a skull with tentacles attached to it.

Quickly turning, Aang started to run away from the assailants and was able to avoid any arrows coming at him. Arrows formed a trail behind him as he ran, and when he neared a wall, he heard a bang. Quickly stopping, he was truly spooked when a blast of energy shot past him and blew a hole through a tree. Knowing that it didn't come from the archers, he suddenly wished that he had let Steve come along on this trip.

Starting to run again, Aang found himself nearing the drop of a cliff. Feeling like his chances were better with the cliff he jumped. The young Airbender yelled as he dropped down. But the archers and soldiers weren't too far behind as they jumped over as well. When he neared the tree tops at the bottom of the cliffside, he tried to use his airbending to slow himself, but still crashed into the foliage with a grunt. Grunting and yelling as he rolled through the treetops, Aang tried to shield himself with his arms as he fell.

The falling archers aimed an arrow before releasing it at a tree. While they used the ropes connected to the arrows and swung down to the ground, the soldiers pulled a cord that opened a chute on the backs to allow them to land safely. The archers stuck to the trees while the soldiers pursued from the ground.

Aang slid down the tree trunks towards the ground. As he came at a crossing in the trees, he quickly jumped out of the way as three arrows came flying at him. He quickly hopped from one tree trunk to the next before breaking through the foliage. He yelled while dropping down to the ground and ran into the cold murky waters of the valley swamp. As he went in deeper, Aang yelled as he lost his footing and disappeared in the water.

Coming up to the surface with a gasp, Aang reached down into the murky water to search for a frog. When he brought his hand up, he was both surprised and happy to see that he had pulled up, "A frog!"

But a sudden arrow knocked the frozen creature out of his hand, making him gasp as he looked back. Moving quickly, he grabbed what frogs he could find and tucked them in his shirt while avoiding arrows and energy blasts coming his way. He reached down and pulled up a frog right as an arrow nearly hit his hand. Trying to hide near an overturned log, Aang was taken by surprise as an arrow embedded itself in his shirt sleeve against the wood. Three more arrows pinned the rest of his arm to the tree. Really scared and panicking, Aang tried to pull his arm out. Taking a look before him, he gasps when he sees the archers standing in front of him and loosed more arrows. With a yell, Aang created an ice wall from the murky water. But after three arrows piercing the ice, Aang shouted as the ice shattered before him. The archers then released another volley of arrows that pinned Aang's free arm to the tree, making him worry badly. He yelled when they shot a net over him. He looked scared as he waited for the archers and soldiers to come at him. But grew really worried when the soldiers raised their weapons and heard a clicking sound. Then he heard a bang, felt a stinging pain in his arm, and the next thing he saw was darkness.

x

It was sometime later when Aang regained consciousness and looked up with a scowl at where he was. He found his arms chained to two columns with burning torches at the top and his feet chained to the floor.

Outside his prison cell, two unmasked Fire Nation soldiers and two Hydra soldiers stood guard outside. Aang didn't know it at the moment, but he was inside Admiral Zhao's three walled fortress.

Aang grunted as he tried to force the chains to come off, but stopped when he heard the door creak open. Admiral Zhao walked in with his hands behind his back, sounding a little disappointed as he said, "So this is the great Avatar, master of all the elements." Then he smiled as he said, "It would seem that serum that Hydra used on you has worn off."

He became serious again as he stopped in front of Aang and said as he walked around the captured Airbender, "I don't know how you've managed to elude the Fire Nation for a hundred years, but your little game of hide-and-seek," He stopped behind Aang and sounded as if to gloat, "is over."

"I've never hidden from you." Aang said with a glare. Then he dared Zhao, "Untie me, and I'll fight you right now!"

"Uh, no." Zhao said as he moved in front of Aang, knowing better. Then he turned towards Aang and made an emotional jab at the boy, "Tell me, how does it feel to be the only Airbender left?"

He came closer and questioned with a smirk, "Do you miss your people?"

Aang tried to look defiant, but his face fell and his shoulders slumped as he thought about them. Zhao then said, "Oh, don't worry, you won't be killed like they were."

This made Aang glare up at him in anger. Zhao then pointed out as he turned around, "See, if you die, you'll just be reborn, and the Fire Nation will have to begin its search for the Avatar all over again," Admiral Zhao looked back as he said, "so I'll keep you alive…" He smirked while he added, "but just barely."

In retaliation to what Zhao said and thinks, Aang took in a huge gust of air and blew hard. The rushing wind sent Zhao flying, and with a tumble the man hit his back against the metal upside down with a grunt. When he fell onto his knees, Zhao shook his head and rubbed the sore area before saying to Aang, "Blow all the wind you want. Your situation is futile." Zhao sounded confident as he said while opening the door, "There is no escaping this fortress," Aang's face fell as Zhao said with a glare, "and no one is coming to rescue you."

With that said, Zhao slammed the door behind him.

x

Back at the ruins on the mountain, the three sick continued to cough. Appa was taking the moment to take a nap. When he was able to stop, Sokka begged, "Water."

"Yeah, some water would be nice right now." Natasha agreed with a blissful smile. Katara tried to keep their spirits up by saying, "Momo should be back any minute."

Said lemur came cooing in. But instead of having the water pouch with him, he held a dead mouse before Katara. Then he placed it on her belly, making her groan in disgust. Katara then tried to tell him, "No, Momo. Water." Then she slowly said, "Wa… ter."

Momo chittered as if he understood and ran off again. Natasha then said to Katara from up on Appa's back, "I bet he's gonna bring the wrong thing again."

This made Katara have a deadpanned look from the remark before she shot back, "And I'm willing to bet that he will get it right."

"We shall see." Natasha said with a small smirk. This seemed to infuriate Katara as she gave a small growl. But then her mind drifted to her friend and asked, "Aang, what in the world is taking you so long?"

x

Aang continued to sit, or stand, in his cell, unable to think of an escape plan. But he couldn't think of anything.

x

Soldiers, both of the Fire Nation and Hydra, stood on the wall and observed for anything out of the ordinary. But within the forest a few good yards away, two masked individuals poked their heads out through the bushes and observed the fortress. After assessing their point of entry, both masked men backed into the shadows.

x

A cargo carriage strolled down a dirt road towards the fortress. The Komodo rhino pulling the cart growled as it pulled it along. As it passed over a certain spot, four hands reached up and silently grabbed the underside of the cart. Both the Red and Blue Spirits held on tight as the cart continued on its way towards the fortress. The masked spirits looked to each other while they waited to near the fortress. When they stopped, the one with the sword looked to the side as a soldier inspected it and said, "All clear."

A Hydra soldier came up with a Fire Nation soldier who had a torch in his hand. They checked a side of the carriage and then the inside before moving to the other side. When the two soldiers kneeled down to check the under carriage, they found nothing. Then the Hydra soldier looked to the driver of the cart and said, "All clear. Go on in."

With a flick of the reins, the cart kept moving with the two masked men inside. The Blue and Red Spirits looked to each other before nodding and turned their heads towards the fortress. Two of the gates had been opened for the cart as it when inside.

While the soldiers unloaded, the two masked spirits had been able to sneak away and quietly made their way through the courtyard within two of the walls. When they saw that the coast was clear, they made their way into a doorway.

x

From a balcony high up on the tower, Admiral Zhao stepped out. He looked down at a gathered army with most of the Fire Nation soldiers on both sides of the Hydra soldiers. Standing on both sides of the admiral was Colonel Shinu and an old man wearing orange tinted glasses from the Fire Nation. He then began a speech by saying, "We are the sons and daughters of fire. The superior element. Until today, only one thing stood in our path to victory-" He let the suspension build up to say, "the Avatar!"

During the suspension, the two masked spirits snuck past a couple of guards in one of the battlements. As they continued to sneak along the wall of the fortress, Zhao continued his speech, "I am here to tell you that he is now my prisoner!"

All of the soldiers cheered at the news of no resistance. Zhao raised a confident fist as he shouted, "This is the year Sozin's Comet returns to grant us its power."

The soldiers of the Fire Nation cheered to the possible chance of victory. Then Zhao said something about their allies, "And with the additional aid of Hydra, we will crush any resistance from the other two nations!"

This caused each Hydra soldier to raise a fist in approval. Then Zhao shouted, "This is the year the Fire Nation and Hydra breaks through the walls of Ba Sing Se and burns the city to the ground!"

All the soldiers continue to cheer to this. And as they cheered, the two masked spirits had made their way to the back of the fortress and threw down a rope. When they made sure it was secure, both men lowered themselves down to the courtyard grounds. They made their way to an underground sewer and going through it, squeezed through a small grate.

x

As the two spirits made their way through the tower, they were about to turn at an intersection when a masked soldier came out of nowhere. The two masked spirits stopped as the soldier raised a spear at them. The Blue Spirit removed his blades and prepared for a fight. The soldier then started snickering before it turned completely into a chuckle and then turned into a big laugh. The two masked spirits looked to each other as they didn't know how to respond. The soldier then said with a strange accent, "No need to worry about me." He raised his hands up to his helmet, and slid it off to remove both parts, revealing a man with long black hair and had no beard nor mustache as he said, "You can call me as a friend."

Then with a flick of his head he said, "I believe the Avatar's cell is this way."

The two masked spirits looked to each other before following.

x

Aang grunted as he once again struggled with his chains. But he stopped to take a breather and looked down as he thought about his situation. Then he felt movement in shirt and shouted, "What? No!" A partially thawed frog jumped out, causing Aang to shout in distress, "Don't leave, frogs. My friends are sick and they need you."

The other partially thawed frogs croaked as they made their escape as well as Aang shouted, "Please go back to being frozen."

Now desperate, Aang grunted again as he tried to pull on his chains while making a comical face while doing it.

Standing outside the Avatar's cell, the four guards kept standing guard. But the sound of croaking frogs caused them to become confused as one said, "Huh?"

All four looked down to see partially frozen frogs crawling out from underneath the door. Deciding that it wasn't worth their time, the four guards resumed their stoic glares as they kept watch. A rolling Fire Nation helmet drew their attention as a man in Fire Nation armor came up to them and spoke in a strange accent, "Sorry for the drop of the helmet, my good men. But you should know that it's time for a shift change. And I believe the others to the shift change wish to meet you in the hall on the right. And even I found it odd."

"Hmm?" One of the soldiers said as they all became suspicious. A Firebender assumed his stance and went to the corner and walked down it. The remaining three guards and the new one watched as he walked down the hall on the right. The three on guard were surprised as the guard grunts and groans while trying to defend himself with fire. The two Hydra soldiers looked to each other before readying their weapons and moved to investigate.

When they went around the corner and looked down, they saw that the first guard was suspended to the ceiling and gagged while missing his helmet. They were so shocked and lowered their weapons, that they didn't think to look up as the two masked spirits watched them from the ceiling. The Blue Spirit silently lowered a rope that wrapped around the wrist of one Hydra soldier, while the Red Spirit dropped down behind the second soldier, grabbed his wrist and flung him into the metal wall. Then with a quick neck chop with his left hand, the Hydra soldier was knocked out cold.

The remaining Fire Nation soldier standing guard at the door and the new one stood staring at each other after hearing the commotion. The guard reached over for a horn, but the replacement said, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

The soldier didn't heed him and continued to reach for the horn. The replacement guard sighed as a knife spun through the air past him and knocked the horn out of the guards hand with the man giving a startled yell. The guard readied his stance when the replacement came closer and said, "So sorry about this." But then he chuckled to himself and said, "Then again, I'm not really."

The guard threw a fire fist, only for the Blue Spirit to throw a bucket of water to douse the flames. Then the Red Spirit came in and punched the guard with his left arm, making the guard slump to his knees. The false guard came up and said, "Lights out, sunshine."

Then with a slap with the back of his hand, he knocked the guard out. The false guard turned to the two masked spirits and said, "Name's Nikol by the way."

The Blue Spirit motioned with his hand for Nikol to move. The false guard then did as he was 'asked' while the masked man pushed on the door.

Aang was pulling on his chains again when heard the commotion from inside his cell and looked to the door as it was opened. The Blue and Red spirits and Nikol walked into the room while the Blue Spirit shut the door. Aang gasped in fear while Nikol and the Red Spirit watched the Blue Spirit unsheathe his blade in an impressive display to where one sword became two and came at Aang. Aang screamed as the masked spirit swung wildly at him.

Aang continued to scream and closed his eyes as he waited. But when the swordsman struck, a metallic thud caused Aang to open his eyes. He looked to his arms and noticed that they were free. He looked up to the Blue Spirit as he came closer and swung again to cut the wrist shackles off. Another swing freed Aang's legs. The two masked spirits then started to walk out of the cell. Aang, still weirded out a little, asked, "Who are you, guys? What's going on? Are you here to rescue me?"

He got a good look at Nikol and said, "Hey, I remember you from the Fire Nation rig at Haru's village."

"That's right." Nikol said. Then he looked over to the masked spirits as the one with the sword motioned for them to follow. Thinking about the rescue, Aang said, "I'll take that as a yes on the rescuing question."

As Aang came out of the cell, he saw one of the guards bound and muffling in a gag as the Firebender tried to break free. The two masked spirits turned down the right hall as Aang and Nikol came to the first intersection. The sound of a croak drew Aang's attention to the hall on the left. Looking down to the floor he saw the nearly thawed frogs crawling to escape.

"My frogs!" Aang said a little too loudly. This caused Nikol to cringe as Aang shouted, "Come back! And stop thawing out!" He gasped when the frogs jumped out of his hands and the two masked spirits came back and grabbed him by the shoulders. Aang cried out as he was dragged away, "Wait! My friends need to suck on those frogs!"

This made Nikol raise an eyebrow as he followed and muttered, "Suck on frogs? Who in their right minds would do such a thing?"

x

It was late at night back at the ruined city. Momo purred as he flew back to the hiding place. The hiding place had been filled with many items. And Katara had been covered in some of those items. Sokka continued to shiver from his fever. Momo came in and dropped a crown on her head. This made Katara say, "How many times do I have to tell you, Momo? We need water." Then she said it slow again, "Wa.. ter."

Momo's ears twitched and Katara turned and gave up on it, "Oh, forget it."

"I did tell you that it was pointless, Katara." Natasha said, almost singing in victory. Katara scowled at her friend's words and said, "Oh, forget you."

But then her thoughts drifted back to Aang, "Aang, please hurry."

"Who's this Aang kid you keep talking about, your highness?" A delusional Sokka asked. Even though he was sick, this caused Katara to become very irritated at him. It got worse when Natasha played along, "Maybe he's a friend that likes to bring her cake."

At that moment, Steve came back in the hiding place with a huge pile of wood in his arms. He was looking down at the pile of wood while saying, "Sorry, I'm late coming back, guys. I had a hard time finding some de-" When he did look up he saw that most of the floor had been littered with different objects. Then he had a worried look as he said, "Oh, boy. What did I miss?"

x

Back at the Fire Nation fortress, Aang, Nikol and the two masked spirits continued to sneak through the fortress. While the guards patrolled above them, Aang and Nikol followed the two masked spirit's lead and stuck to the shadows of the sewers. The four of them slowly kept quiet and moved fast from one end to the other.

When they reached the middle of the area, one of the masked spirits slowly brought himself to where he could see. He saw a single guard with a spear walking away, three guards conversing with themselves, and more guards patrolling the grounds. The masked man lowered himself and pointed up to signal that it was clear to move. Then one by one, the four quickly jumped out of the grate.

x

Back inside the fortress, Admiral Zhao walked with the old man wearing tinted glasses and small moustache. He felt proud as he told the old man, "I want a full transcription of my speech sent to the Fire Lord and Johann Schmidt, along with glowing testimonials from all of the ranking officers present. And…"

A sudden noise caused Zhao and the old man to look to their left in surprise and saw the dangling guards as they groaned. Zhao's face turned from surprise to a deep scowl as he turned his eyes towards the Avatar's cell.

Forcing the door open, Admiral Zhao looked in and found the cell to be empty. Though not completely empty as a lone frog sat on the floor. The small creature croaked up to an angry Zhao as the admiral's eye twitched with fury. Admiral Zhao then turned and ran through the halls of the fortress. The old man looked into the room and began to understand the situation and asked, "Um, sir, shall I hold off sending that speech to the Fire Lord?"

"Even though it was mostly from a bag of hot wind." The old man muttered as he ran after Zhao. The frog started to hop after them as well.

x

The four of them reached the spot where the rope had been thrown down. Nikol and the two masked men allowed Aang to go up first on the rope and followed up one by one. As they were halfway up the rope, an alarm bell rings out while a siren blares. The noises rang out throughout the entire fortress. A guard saw them and shouted, "Over there!"

"On the wall!" Another guard shouted and pointed. A guard came at the top of the end of the rope and cut it. Aang yelled as he and the others fell. But before any of them could hit the ground, Aang created an air sphere under them and cushioned their fall. Nikol and Aang stood back as the two masked men readied their weapons, the blue spirit with swords unsheathed his blades while the red spirit removed a long rifle from his back. Aang looked at the rifle and thought it looked as if he had seen it from somewhere.

The Blue Spirit used his broadswords to point to the open gates, indicating that it was their only way out. All four of them made a break for it.

Zhao ran out to the balcony and shouted, "The Avatar has escaped!" Then he ordered, "Close all the gates immediately!"

"All of you stay close to me." Aang shouted as he ran in front of the group. A force of guards consisting of both Hydra and Fire Nation formed a line with spears pointed at them. As they ran closer, Aang jumped in the air before releasing a blast of air at the guards. The blast surrounded the guards and threw them back. As they neared the gate, Nikol and the two masked men had to stop and fight when the soldiers came at them.

The Blue Spirit used his swords blocked and cut off the spear heads that came at him. The Red Spirit raised his rifle with it set to stun and fired from one guard to another. The guards who were hit groaned at the electrical pain and fell on their face. Nikol ducked under a spear before using a palm strike to knock a Hydra soldier back. Meanwhile, Aang had to skid to a stop when he realized that he wouldn't make it. He looked back to see his allies were in trouble. The young Airbender was so distracted that he almost didn't see a spear coming at him. He yelled in fright before grabbing it with his hands and blasting the guard away with his foot. Aang looked to the spear before breaking off the end, still not wanting to hurt anyone too bed. Then as the gates closed with a bang, Aang ran back to help his friends.

The swordsman spirit quickly moved about, slicing spear heads off. When one came at him, the swordsman spirit sliced down the wood. The Red Spirit bashed the butt of the rifle to one guard's face before grabbing the wrist of a Hydra soldier and twisted it. As the Hydra soldier screamed in pain, the Red Spirit kicked him in the gut to knock him down. Nikol stuck the spear's head in the ground and used it to spin around and kick the approaching guards. A quick blur came and knocked away the rest of the guards.

Then Aang stood before all three and used a big swing of the makeshift staff to hurl all three men up the wall. Nikol screamed in terror from the flight while all three landed with a roll on the wall. They backed up and prepared to defend themselves as more guards with spears came at them. But Aang came in spinning the makeshift staff over his head and grabbed the Blue Spirit with his legs. Nikol sighed and said, "I guess that it's time to reveal something about my true nature."

With a sigh placed a hand on the Red Spirit's shoulder and both men glowed green. Then both men vanished into thin air, surprising all the guards on top of the inner most wall.

Meanwhile, Aang gave a strained grunt as tried to hold on to the Blue Spirit and spin the staff. From the ground, the guards tried to throw their spears at them, but the Blue Spirit was able to deflect them with his broad swords. As they neared the second wall, the Blue Spirit defended them both by swatting or kicking the spears. When they reached the wall, Aang yelled as they fell to the ground and tumbled a little. The Blue Spirit looked up to see Fire Nation guards with swords emerging from a trap door. Aang ran to get his makeshift staff back, but a guard kicked it over the wall.

But before the guard could raise his blade, a flash of green and Nikol then pushed the guard over the wall. Another guard came swinging at Aang, but the Blue Spirit grabbed the man in a full nelson before throwing him off the wall with a shriek. Two Hydra soldiers raised their rifle weapons, only to drop to the ground after bang from the Red Spirit's rifle. The Blue Spirit recovered his broadswords and readied himself. While he blocked the blades of some guards, Aang blasted the guards he faced before moving to the other guards.

From the fortress grounds, the soldiers of both the Fire Nation and Hydra came running up with flexible ladders. When they reached the wall and with the ladder's flexibility, the guards at the front were able to walk up the wall. Six soldiers ran up the wall with six ladders.

Nikol looked over the side and warned the other three, "I believe we have company coming up to meet us."

The Blue Spirit knocked a Fire Nation soldier off one ladder as the Red Spirit smacked another soldier with the butt of his rifle. Nikol kicked a guard off while Aang air blasted two guards away. Then jumping up on the edge of the wall he sent a blast of air that knocked all the soldiers to the ground. The soldiers on the ladder next to them had braced themselves, and when they looked up they found the Avatar about to do it again. The soldier in front wailed in fear before he and the other men were also blasted back down to the ground. Nikol and the Red and Blue Spirits had just knocked the last guards off of the ladders when Aang ran up to the Blue Spirit and told the other two, "Watch what we do." Then turning to the Blue Spirit with a ladder and shouted, "Take this!"

Nikol and the Red Spirit followed suit with the other three ladders with the Red Spirit jumping on Nikol's back. Aang jumped on the ladder and shouted to the Blue Spirit, "Jump on my back!"

The Blue Spirit didn't hesitate and held onto Aang as the ladder leaned with terrified Fire and Hydra soldiers clinging. They four used the ladders as makeshift long legs as Aang and Nikol used their second to go farther as the first with the soldiers fell to the ground. When Aang and the Blue Spirit were about to tip over on the second, Aang shouted, "Give me the next one!"

The Blue Spirit handed the ladder down while Nikol took his second from the Red Spirit. As they balanced themselves on their third leg, two Firebenders came up and set the ladders ablaze. The fire quickly spread to the top of the ladder, forcing Aang and Nikol to jump with their passengers on their backs. They were able to make it to the wall, but they couldn't hang on for long and slipped. Both the Red and Blue Spirits tried to grab on as well, but they ultimately fell to the ground.

Aang, Nikol and the Blue and Red Spirits fell to the ground with Aang yelling all the way down. Nikol and Aang grunted in pain when they hit the ground. Both the Blue and Red Spirits stood up and readied their respective weapons as the guards surrounded them. Three Firebenders sent streams of fire at them, causing Aang to jump in front of the other three and form an air shield around them.

"Hold your fire!" Admiral Zhao ordered while walking up to the scene. He pointed out to the Firebenders, "The Avatar must be captured alive." Then he looked to Nikol and said, "And I'll want to deal with this traitor personally."

Upon hearing that, the Blue and Red Spirits had an idea as the Blue Spirit put Aang in a hold with his blades touching his neck, making Aang grunt in panic. The Red Spirit did the same and grabbed Nikol while pointing a smaller weapon to his head. Without turning his head, Nikol uttered, "Really?"

It created a standoff with the Blue Spirit and Zhao staring at each other. Admiral Zhao then slowly ordered, "Open the gate."

"Admiral, what are you doing?" Colonel Shinu questioned. But Zhao wasn't in the mood as he snapped, "Let them out. Now!"

The order was complied as the gates opened behind the four. When it was opened wide enough, the Blue and Red Spirits led Aang and Nikol out of the fortress. Shinu then questioned as scowling Zhao, "How could you let them go?"

"A situation like this requires…" Admiral Zhao said before a grin smirked as he said with deadly intent, "precision."

The Blue and Red Spirits had led Aang and Nikol a good distance away from the fortress. Nikol spoke to the both of them and said, "Now that we're out of danger, could the two of you consider letting us go."

But the two spirits said nothing nor complied to Nikol's request. The undercover guard said, "Of course not."

The Blue Spirit thought that they were going to get out of this.

But he couldn't have been more wrong as Zhao and two Yu Yan archers were standing in a battlement that over looked the road. The two archers readied an arrow on their bow strings. Without turning his head to them Zhao looked over and asked them, "Do you both have a clear shot?"

The archers didn't say anything as they began to aim. Admiral Zhao then ordered, "Knock out the thieves. I'll deliver them to the Fire Lord and Johann Schmidt, along with the Avatar." Zhao turned his head to Shinu and said, "I'm willing to bet that Johann will be interested to hear that one of his agents has gone rogue."

The Colonel only nodded in agreement. The archers waited another moment before releasing their arrows. The arrows flew fast through the air before hitting the Blue and Red Spirits in the head with a clang.

Aang and Nikol looked to the downed spirits and the former's eyes grew wide as he saw a face under the Blue Spirit's mask. His eyes started to tremble as he noticed a scar where the eye was. Nikol looked down to the boy and said, "Aang."

Aang then used his airbending to through up a smoke screen. Zhao saw the cover and ordered, "Quick, recover the Avatar!"

Aang kneeled down, turned the Blue Spirit's head and removed the mask and uncovered the face of an unconscious Prince Zuko. Even Nikol's eyes grew wide as Aang jumped back with a gasp. Aang looked over to the Red Spirit and guessed that it was Bucky under that mask. Aang quickly stood up, grabbed Nikol's arm and started to run.

But he stopped and let go of Nikol's arm while the older man kept running. Nikol looked back and said, "Aang! Let's go!"

But Aang looked back with trembling eyes and thought about how Zuko and Bucky had risked their lives to save him. Then he thought about what would happen to them if they fell into Zhao's clutches. As the guards came closer, Aang made a choice.

The guards consisting of Fire and Hydra soldiers neared the spot as the dust settled, and found nothing on the ground. From the battlement, Zhao was truly infuriated as he scowled at the fact that he had lost all of them. But his scowl turned into one of curiosity as something went croak next to him. Looking down, everyone saw a frog sitting next to him. The frog then jumped onto the part that stood up before jumping off the side and down to the far ground.

x

It was nearing dawn as Aang and Nikol carried the unconscious Zuko and Bucky through the forest on their backs while holding their weapons under their chins. They came to a spot where they could lay the two men and their weapons down on a bed of leaves. When Nikol set Bucky down on the ground next to Prince Zuko and turned to Aang. With a whole-hearted smile he said, "Well, young Airbender, this has been one heck of an adventure, I must admit."

"Thanks." Aang said with a smile before bowing, "And thank you for helping us back there. I'm sorry for the trouble."

Nikol waved it off and said, "Bah, it was no trouble really." He chuckled and said, "After all, mischief and trouble is actually something that I live to do."

He sighed as he looked up and saw that the new day was coming. Looking back to Aang he said, "Well, young man, I had best be on my way. Good luck finding those frogs that you need for your friends."

Nikol turned and started to walk down the path. Aang, curious, called out, "Wait!"

This caused Nikol to stop and look back as Aang asked, "Will I or my friends ever see you again."

Nikol took a moment to look up and think for a moment. Then with a small grin he said to Aang, "I may appear here and there now and again. But if you want to have a little fun or cause some mischief, then I'm the one you can call."

The strange man then chuckled as he walked off. Aang watched him go until the man was out of sight. Then he sat down on a small rise beside the unconscious two.

It was a few hours later and the sun had risen when Zuko and the Winter Soldier regained consciousness. When he opened his eyes, things were blurry for a moment as he looked to his right and found the Avatar sitting there hugging his knees. Aang heard the groans from the two and said to them, "You know what the worst part about being born over one hundred years ago is?"

They didn't answer and he didn't mind as he said, "I miss all the friends I used to hang out with." Aang recalled an old friend as he said, "Before the war started, I used to always visit my friend Kuzon."

Aang smiled as he remembered, "The two of us, we'd get in and out of so much trouble together." He looked away as he said, "He was one of the best friends I ever had." Then he turned to Prince Zuko and said, "And he was from the Fire Nation, just like you."

It seemed Zuko thought about what Aang said. And his words clearly got to Bucky as the Winter Soldier began to think about another life. Aang then asked, "If we knew each other back then, do you think we could have been friends, too?" Aang then looked over to the Winter Soldier and gently asked, "Do you have any good memories with Steve?"

The two men just laid there before the Winter Soldier quickly stood up and made a jump-grab at Aang. The young Airbender jumped back but had to quickly jump into the trees as Prince Zuko shot a fireball at him. They watched as Aang made a full retreat as he jumped from branch to branch to get away. This left both Prince Zuko and the Winter Soldier alone, both to think on Aang's words. The Winter Soldier placed a hand on Zuko's shoulder as if to support him.

x

Aang returned to the section of the valley swamp where he had been chased by the Yu Yan archers. He dipped his hand into the cold and murky water, and was successful as he brought up a frozen frog.

x

It was a few hours past sunrise as Prince Zuko's smaller boat was pulled into the main ship. Both Prince Zuko and the Winter Soldier walked across the deck and past Iroh as he played the Sunghi horn in front of the ruby monkey idol. He looked to the two and said, "Where have the two of you been, Prince Zuko?" They walked off as he informed, "You both missed music night." He sounded extra happy as he said, "Lieutenant Jee sang a stirring love song."

"We're going to bed." Prince Zuko said over his shoulder. Then he said while rubbing his head, "No disturbances."

General Iroh found it odd, but didn't say anything as he continued to play the Sunghi horn.

x

Back at the hideout, Steve picked up the last of the items that Momo had brought while trying to please Katara. He placed them to the side and had taken off Katara's tiara when Aang walked in. The super soldier said, "Hey, Aang, how'd it go?"

"Fine for the most part." Aang said as he walked up to the three. He reached into his shirt and pulled out a frog. He placed one in each mouth and tiredly said, "Suck on these. They'll make you feel better."

Natasha, Katara and Sokka did as they were told and started sucking on their 'medicine'. Steve watched as Aang walked over to Appa's tail and laid down with a sigh. Sokka looked to Aang's direction and asked, "Aang, how was your trip? Did you make any new friends?"

"No, I don't think I did." Aang said as he turned over to get some rest. But then he said over his shoulder, "But I did run into Nikol."

"Oh, that's nice." Natasha said as she sucked on her frog. Steve moved over to Aang and sat down on the bison's tail and said, "I know that your tired, but I can see that something's bothering you."

Aang sat up and said, "Can we wait until there all better? Then I swear that I'll tell you everything."

Cap looked at Aang noticed how much the boy needed to rest right now, so with a nod he said, "Yeah. Yeah, that'll be just as good."

Aang gave his friend a grateful smile as he laid back down.

x

In his room, Prince Zuko laid on his cot and looked up at the ceiling as he thought about the events that had just transpired. Then he took one look at the Fire Nation insignia before turning away and closing his eyes to sleep.

x

In his own room, the Winter Soldier, or Bucky, was really starting to think about what Aang said as more memories of him and Steve came back to him. He laid down and closed his eyes, trying to sleep it off.

x

In the office of the three walled Fire Nation fortress. The old man was with Zhao as he sat in his chair thinking. Then without turning, the Admiral said to the man, "Write this message for Johann: that there appears to be a traitor in the midst of Hydra's ranks. And tell him that my proof is that I have seen a man with a Hydra stun gun, for no Fire Nation soldier in the fortress carried one."

He stood up as the old man continued to write down. Then he looked up at the new Fire Nation flag; the symbol of fire, tattooed on the forehead of the insignia of Hydra.

x

As the three sick continued to suck on their medicine, Sokka clearly enjoyed it as he said, "Mm. This is tasty."

"You said it, Sokka." Natasha agreed. Katara didn't say a word, but clearly thought the same thing with the smile on her face.

But all their satisfaction would turn to disgust as the frog thawed out and started wriggling in his mouth while croaking. The Water Tribe teen's eye started to twitch before spitting the frog out. Katara noticed that her frog thawed out too and screamed, opening her mouth to let the frog jump out. Natasha felt sick again as she spat her frog out. Steve watched with a raised eyebrow as the three coughed and gagged from having frogs in their mouths. He looked down from watching the girls brush their tongues with their hands and Sokka licking the fur on Appa's leg to see Momo chasing one of the frogs.

x

**This story's dedication to:**

**Stan Lee: 1922 – 2018**

x

Author's Note: And after a few weeks of working on other fanfictions, I am back with Avenging Avatar. So sorry for the wait you guys. I promise to have new chapters ready as I look to finish Book One. But I will also work on my other fanfics if I can find the time. But Avenging Avatar Book One will be one of my top priority for now. I look forward to reading your reviews. Be sure to leave a comment either about if I've done something wrong or if you want something specifically to happen. See you next time.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Avatar the Last Airbender or the Avengers (MCU), only the story. Avatar the Last Airbender and its characters belongs to Nickelodeon and Avengers belongs to Marvel. This is basically a redo of the chapter. Be on the lookout for a future poll about it. I apologize for any errors in grammar and/or if I was not accurate in reference to something.

x

**Katara: **Water, Soldier, Mechanist, God, Earth, Fire, Spy, Archer, Monster, Air

(One by one, eight figures do something to show off their skills: the waterbender weaves a stream of water from the ground, around him and then thrusts it towards the side, the soldier blocks an attack with his shield before throwing it, the mechanist has armor envelope him and then uses the repulsor on his hand to blast something on the side, the god holds a powerful hammer high to summon a bolt of lightning, the earthbender kicks the ground bringing up a large rock before he kicks it away, the firebender twists around as she summons fire from her foot before doing a high kick to the ground and makes the flames spread, the spy drops down from above and displays a few moves, the archer rolls across the ground and fires a few arrows, and finally the monster comes down from a jump and smashes his huge fists on the ground, the airbender drops down and then with a circle of his arms he creates a blast of wind.)

**Katara: **Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked.

(Docked on a shore, five Fire Nation ships with the Hydra insignia released their soldiers. With a jump forward and a palm thrust, the firebenders released a wave of fire as the Hydra soldiers used their advanced technology.)

**Katara: **Only the Avatar, master of all four elements could stop them. But when the world needed him most, he vanished.

(The Avatar, a man with a crown on his head and dressed in robes stands on a pillar of stone as he bent the four elements of water, earth, fire and air to show his skill in the arts of bending. After releasing a powerful disk of wind, he disappears from existence.)

**Katara: **A hundred years passed and my brother and I discovered the new Avatar: an Airbender named Aang and met the team called the Avengers.

(The water tribe siblings find a young Airbender frozen in block of ice. After freeing him, they are then joined by heroes called Captain America, Ironman, Thor, Hulk, Clint, and Natasha.)

**Katara: **And although with the teams help and his airbending skills are great**, **hehas a lot to learn before he's ready to save anyone.

(At an Air Nomad path, Aang creates an air scooter and starts to have fun with it. But when he expands his circle a little bit, he runs right into a statue. He rolls over onto his back as all six of the Avengers then poke their heads from behind the statue to check on him.)

**Katara: **But I believe the Avengers and Aang can save the world.

(Aang, Steve, Katara, Tony, Thor, Bruce, Sokka, Clint and Natasha stand side by side, looking down at the world on a mountain's peak for a moment as the reader's view is turned upwards to the sun.)

**Nickelodeon and Marvel**

**The Avenging Avatar**

x

**Avatar Roku: **_Previously, on Avenging Avatar…_

_Prince Zuko, General Iroh and the Winter Soldier had just come off of the damaged ship. Prince Zuko sounded a little desperate as he said, "I want to make the repairs as quickly as possible, I don't want to lose his trail."_

"_You mean the Avatar's?" Iroh asked. Prince Zuko turned to him and warned, "Don't mention his name on these docks. Once word gets out that he's alive, every Firebender will be out looking for him, and I don't want anyone getting in the way."_

"_Getting in the way of what?" Another voice questioned. All three men turned to see a Fire Nation officer walk up them as he asked, "Prince Zuko?"_

"_Captain Zhao." Prince Zuko said with crossed arms. Zhao had a smirk on his face as he corrected him, "It's commander now."_

"_No home, no allies." Zhao states as he looks down on the prince before adding the topper, "Your own father doesn't even want you."_

"_Bucky." Cap said as he saw his friend on Kyoshi Island._

"_There's a storm coming." A fisherman's wife tried to tell her husband. Aang's eyes grew wide as she said, "A bad one."_

"_Storm clouds are gathering." Monk Gyatso says during telling Aang that he was the Avatar._

"_I'm done dwelling on the past." Aang said as he came to terms with what happened._

x

**Chapter Thirteen**

**The Red and Blue Spirits**

Somewhere along the coast of the colonized Earth Kingdom, a messenger hawk made its way over the ocean towards a Fire Nation fortress. It screeched as it veered right before moving to the left again. At least three guards were posted at the battlements with more patrolling each wall from the main building.

Within one of the walls, a group of ten archers with one with its back turned practice their skills as the lead archer removed one from his quiver. With deadly precision and accuracy, the archer let loose three arrows. Each arrow hit the target in the center, with the following arrow slicing through the one before. While the four in front joined the first archer, they were being watched from above by two officers with their hands behind their backs.

"Absolutely not." The man next to Commander Zhao said. He stated firmly, "The Yu Yan archers stay here." He didn't have any sympathetic emotions as he said, "Your request is denied, Commander Zhao."

"Colonel Shinu, please reconsider." Commander Zhao said with a glance to his superior. Then he retold of their skills, "Their precision is legendary.

"The Yu Yan can pin a fly to a tree from one hundred yards away…" He said as an archer drew back four arrows. The archer took his time aiming as the Commander finished, "without killing it."

The archer then released all four, and each arrow hit a target dead center. Zhao was a little bold as he turned to the Colonel and said, "You're wasting their talents using them as mere security guards."

Colonel Shinu didn't take it too kindly as he looked to Commander Zhao and stated his position, "I can do whatever I want with their talents. They're my archers, and what I say goes."

"But my search for the Avatar is…" Commander Zhao began to say, but Colonel Shinu stepped up to the taller man and cut him off, "Is nothing but a vanity project.

"We're fighting a real war here and I need every man I've got," Shinu then said with a scorn, "Commander."

"But…" Commander Zhao tried to say, but the Colonel wouldn't hear any more of it, "That's final. I don't want to hear another word about it."

Commander Zhao scowled with an angry grunt at being denied.

"_Oh, you will not have to worry about man power for long, Colonel._" A disembodied voice said, frightening both men. Then a blue flash of light caused both men to turn around as a vortex opened up in the battlement. Both Commander and Colonel's eyes were wide as the Red Skull stepped before them with the portal closing behind him. Both Fire Nation officers bowed in respect to their ally as the Colonel then said, "Johann Schmidt, honored leader of our allies from Hydra. It is an honor to have you at our fortress."

"At ease, the both of you." The Red Skull said. Zhao and Shinu then stood tall as the Commander then asked, "With permission to ask, sir, what brings you here?"

Johann Schmidt chuckled as he walked past them to observe the Yu Yan archers. As another archer hit the target dead center again, the leader of Hydra then said, "On my way here, I couldn't help but over hear your conversation through space. And I believe that you both have made good points. And that is why I am here to give the both of you good news."

He turned his head to a spot behind the archers and held up his hand. Both Fire Nation officer's eyes grew wide as a blue vortex opened up behind them. The Yu Yan archers looked back to see a single file line of soldiers joining them on the fortress grounds. Each soldier was dressed in a suit of armor that was designed in the same fashion as most of the Fire Nation army. The only difference in the two was that the Hydra soldiers wore helmets fashioned from the World War Two era, and on the chest plate was the trademark insignia of Hydra, not to mention the huge blasters they carried in their hands. The Red Skull looked to the Colonel and said, "I am giving you at least forty Hydra soldiers. The rest will need to be taken to other locations in the colonies along the Earth Kingdom."

When the final two Hydra soldiers stepped through the portal, Johann Schmidt stopped using his powers. Turning back to the two gentlemen with him he said, "Of course, and as I had explained to his majesty, after using much of the Tesseracts power, I will be out of commission for a small while."

"We understand, sir." Colonel Shinu said with a bow. Commander Zhao then said, "What news do you have for me, sir? Does it have to do something with the Avatar?"

"In a way it does." The Red Skull said with a smirk. He raised his head when he heard a caw coming from outside the fortress. All three men looked out to see a messenger hawk land. The Colonel allowed the bird to land on his arm and was about to reach for the parchment in its pack when Johann Schmidt said, "I doubt you will like what you learn."

Colonel Shinu gave the red skulled man an odd glance before proceeding. He removed the message from the pack while making the hawk jump onto the battlement. As he read it, Shinu's eyes grew wide with surprise, making Zhao interested as he walked up behind the Colonel and asked, "News from Fire Lord Ozai?" He took a quick glance at the Red Skull and asked, "Is it good?"

"You tell me." Johann Schmidt said with his smirk intact. Commander Zhao takes the parchment from the Colonel and looked down at it, and a smirk formed on his face as he stated, "It appears I've been promoted to admiral."

His smirk remained as he turned to the Colonel and said, "My request is now an order."

Colonel Shinu bowed to his new superior before walking down the stairs. The new admiral walked back over to where he could view the archers and the newly acquired Hydra soldiers. The Red Skull raises his hand once more to open another portal. He looked to Admiral Zhao and said, "Happy hunting to you, Admiral Zhao."

Zhao smirked over at Johann Schmidt before looking down as the archers returned to their practice. The Red Skull then took his leave without another word. But up on top of the battlement's cover, the three men had been unaware that their conversation had been listened on. Two men dressed in black, one with a sword strapped to his back and the other with rifle on his own. And both men wore a mask, one red and the other blue. And both of the masks were decorated with the face of an angry spirit.

The two masked spirits slowly backed away when they had all the information they needed to know.

x

In another part of the Earth Kingdom, dark clouds rolled over an abandoned city built into the side of a mountain. Even from the bottom of the mountain city, a loud cough could be heard. Inside their hiding place somewhere within the city, Sokka laid against Appa's side as he tried to fight off a sickness that was taking its toll on his body.

Aang, Steve and Natasha backed away as Sokka went into another coughing fit. Katara remained by her brother's side as she came closer and placed a wet rag on his forehead while saying, "This should bring your fever down."

"Poor Sokka." Nat muttered as she looked down on the Water Tribe Teen. Steve nodded in agreement, silently thankful that the super soldier serum kept him healthy.

Sokka trembled from his illness, but he smiled as he nasally said, "You know what I love about Appa the most?" He looked at the bison's head and said, "His sense of humor."

"That's nice. I'll tell him." Katara said. Appa growled in acknowledgment to his words. Thinking that it had been a joke, Sokka started to chuckle and then said, "Classic Appa."

Aang walked back over with staff and a scroll in hand and asked, "How's Sokka doing, guys?"

"Not so good." Katara admitted. Natasha was in full agreement and said, "The poor kid looks like a dog after a really hot bath."

Steve gave her an odd look but chose not to question her words. Weirded out herself, Katara then said, "Being out in that storm really did a number on him."

"Makes me wonder if the old man that was with you is in bed as well." Steve wondered out loud. Sokka continued to shudder and then sucked a trail of snot back in. All four of his friends looked down at him in worry while Aang said, "I couldn't find any gingerroot for the tea," But then he held up the scroll and said, "but I found a map."

Kneeling down with the two Avengers joining him the young airbender said, "There's an herbalists' institute on the top of that mountain."

The three of them looked to a far mountain as dark clouds kept rolling by. Aang then suggested, "We could probably find a cure for Sokka there."

"Aang, he's in no condition to travel." Katara argued about her brother. She then said, "Sokka just needs more rest."

"And I do agree with that." Steve said as he stood up from looking down at the map. He then pointed out, "Moving him around might make him worse."

"I'm sure he'll be better by tomorrow." Katara said with a smile. Katara then started to cough, and by the sound and length of it, it sounded terrible. The other three backed away to prevent her from coughing on them. Each looked really worried as Aang said in distress, "Not you too."

"Relax, it was just a little cough. I'm fi…" Katara said with a wave as if to shrug it off. But she was proven wrong as she had a major coughing fit. She groaned as she fully acknowledged that she was indeed sick. Aang had shielded himself to avoid being coughed on, and when he lowered his arm, he reminisced about the first of the ill, "That's how Sokka started yesterday." Then he turned to the sick teen and said, "Now look at him, he thinks he's an Earthbender."

"Take that, you rock!" The sick Sokka shouted while trying to punch at an imaginary rock before slumping with his arms crossed. Aang looked to Katara and said, "A few more hours and you'll be talking nonsense, too."

Standing up, Aang, Steve and Natasha stood up as the Avatar stated, "We're going to find some medicine."

He stood up and was about to head out when Natasha let out a huge sneeze. Aang and Steve looked to the spy with a raised eyebrow. She then got defensive by saying, "What? It was only one little sneeze. It's nothing to make a fuss about."

Then she took a deep breath before letting out a storm of coughs. Aang quickly backed up to Steve's side as Natasha covered her mouth. When she looked back up to the two healthy boys, Steve pointed with a finger at Appa. Natasha slumped her shoulders as she knew that it meant that she should rest. The red haired spy walked over with her shoulders sagging to the only unoccupied bison leg. Natasha laid down as Steve turned to Aang and said, "Let's go see this herbalist."

"Wait," Aang interjected. This stopped Steve from moving as the young Airbender said, "Maybe one of us should stay behind." He pointed out as he looked to their sick friends, "With most of us being sick, it would probably do them some good to have someone watch over them."

"I do see your point in this, Aang. But I don't think it's such idea letting you go out there alone." Steve firmly said. Then he pointed out, "Besides, if anything should happen, and thanks to her training, Nat might just be able to defend Sokka and Katara from any hostiles that may find them."

"But I was planning on using my glider to get there." Aang said to make a point. Steve smirked as he said, "I can still use my super speed to keep up."

Aang let out a sigh as he knew he shouldn't argue with the super soldier and said, "All right, if you're sure."

"Positive, kid." Steve reassured him. The two then walked towards the entrance, but as Aang opened up his glider, a bolt of lightning streaked through the sky followed by a boom of thunder. This made Aang rethink his earlier statement and said, "Uh… I think it'll be safer if I go on foot, too."

"I think that would be best." Steve agreed as Aang closed the glider. Then he said, "I starting to think that it might be safer if I left my shield here as well."

He quickly removed the shield off of his back and placed it down against the column along with his helmet. Aang placed his staff next to the shield and looked back to their sick friends. He told the bison and lemur, "Keep an eye on them, guys."

"We'll be back, you two." Steve assured. Appa growled with a chittering Momo clinging to his horn. Sokka, thinking that it was a joke, cackled at the supposed humor before saying, "You guys are killing me!"

"Keep laughing like that and I will kill you!" Natasha warned. Aang and Steve gave one last glance to their friends. Then nodding to each other, Aang used his airbending to jump high into the air. Steve then took a few running steps before leaping after the Avatar.

As they fell, Aang used his airbending to slow his descent while Steve plummeted down to the ground. The super soldier crashed at the bottom of the mountain and stood to wait for his companion. Once Aang had touched down next to him, they took off running at their top speeds. As the two ran, their super speeds created huge dust clouds behind them.

x

Somewhere along the Earth Kingdom's coast, Prince Zuko's ship sailed through the calm waters. Inside the cabin at the top of the ship's tower, the aforementioned prince and the Winter Soldier looked over the Lieutenant's shoulder as he reported, "We haven't been able to pick up the Avatar's trail since the storm." He placed a finger on the map as they planned, "But if we continue heading northeast…"

He was cut off when a large shadow blocked what sun light was visible. It surprised all whom were present in the cabin. This agitated Prince Zuko as he questioned, "What do they want?"

"Perhaps a sporting game of Pai Sho." His uncle eagerly said as he rubbed his hands together. The Winter Soldier looked to the older man and said, 'Somehow, I highly doubt that, sir."

This caused Iroh to pout for a moment, but then he shrugged it off as he continued to play.

A few minutes later…

The larger Fire Navy ship had docked two ramps down to Prince Zuko's ship. And a few minutes later, a Fire Navy captain unrolled a scroll to reveal a wanted poster of Aang. The two Hydra soldiers accompanying them unrolled two more wanted posters of both Captain America and Natasha. The captain then told Prince Zuko, "The hunt for the Avatar and the Avengers has been given prime importance. All information regarding the Avatar or the Avengers must be reported directly to Admiral Zhao."

"Zhao has been promoted?" Iroh asked as the Fire Navy captain and the Hydra soldiers put the scrolls away. Then he slid a piece across the board as he said, "Well, good for him."

A player and a bystander noticed the move Iroh made and the bystander had a depressed look on his face as the player facepalmed. All the while as Iroh had a smirk on his face. Prince Zuko was looking down to the side while having his arms crossed and said, "I've got nothing to report to Zhao." He looked to the group of five and demanded, "Now get off my ship and let us pass."

"Admiral Zhao is not allowing ships in or out of this area." The captain said. This seemed to infuriate Prince Zuko as he ordered, "Off my ship!"

The two Hydra soldiers, not liking Zuko's tone, took a step forward. But the Winter Soldier stepped forward as well with a glare to the two soldiers. This caused the five to turn and depart the ship.

As they left, Iroh happily exclaimed, "Excellent. I take the pot."

The tiles were stacked like poker chips as Iroh leaned forward and took them. This caused the group of three to look depressed while the bystander punched the side of his head. But being a good sport, Iroh offered them some encouraging words, "But you're all improving. I'm certain you will win if we play again."

The crew seemed interested as they reset the board to play again. The Winter Soldier looked to the prince as Zuko stared out the window.

x

Along a rocky trail on the side of a mountain, two Fire Nation scouts were keeping a lookout for any passerby. One of the scouts looked through a telescope while the other read from the wanted poster. He read from the scroll aloud, "Says here that the Avatar can create tornadoes and run faster than the wind. It also says that the one called Captain America carries a strong shield while the spy is able to use her wits and skills to take down her enemies." He was a little impressed as he lowered the poster and looked over to his partner and said, "Pretty amazing."

"Ah, that's just a bunch of Fire Lord propaganda." The scout with the telescope said. He looked back to the other scout and said, "There's no way that's true."

He then turned to look back through the telescope just as two dust clouds ran down it. The scout looking through the telescope looked truly surprised as Aang's speed caused the little tree hut to be obliterated. Then he lifted a horn up to his lips and blew hard to signal anyone who could hear him.

x

The three sick friends tried to get some rest as they waited for Aang and Steve to come back. While the girls tried to rest, Sokka looked to his sister, weakly said, "Katara, please… water."

Katara weakly looked over to the sleeping Momo next to her. Then she leaned on one arm as she said, "Listen carefully, Momo." She held up the water pouch and said, "I need you to take this to river and fill with water."

Momo tried to listen, but all he was really hearing was Katara speaking in some kind of gibberish while moving her hand in certain ways. Then she asked, "Got it?"

Momo purred, making it sound like he understood, and Katara held out the water pouch to him. The flying lemur then took it in his back feet and flew out of the hiding spot.

Katara sighed while watching him go. And just when she was about to go back to sleeping, she heard Nat say, "You do realize that you tried to give instructions to a lemur, right?"

"Yeah, why?" Katara asked. Natasha shrugged and said, "Because this might not go the way you want it to."

Katara, sighed in annoyance before closing her eyes again.

x

Aang and Steve had finally ran to the far mountain. They stopped a moment to look up the steps to the top. Without hesitation, the two began the long climb. They panted from the exertion as they continued to climb. When both the Airbender and the super soldier reached the top, they stood before a gateway before the institute. They ran to the closet building and inside they found themselves in an herb garden.

A white cat meowed before moving out of their way and jumped on a table with an old woman at the end. Both Aang and Steve slowed down as they made their way over to her. The woman wore faded green Earth Kingdom robes and had a twig in the bun of her hair. Aang quickly told her, "Hello! We're sorry to barge in like this, but we need some medicine for our friends." He became frantic as he described the symptoms as she stirred something in a bowl, "They have fevers, and they've been coughing, and…"

"Aang, slow down. It's not going to help the others if you can't speak clearly." Steve said and placed a hand on his shoulder. The woman looked to them and said, "He's right, young man. Your friends are going to be fine.

"I've been up here for over forty years, you know." She told them a little about her history. The seemed sad as she said, "Used to be others, but they all left years ago." She reached her hand to the purring cat and said, "Now it's just me and Miyuki."

Aang looked a little bored, but was still polite enough to say with a raised eyebrow, "That's nice."

"I'm sorry that you and Miyuki are up here by yourselves." Steve kindly said. But the herbalist said, "Wounded Earth Kingdom troops still come by now and gain." She stirred the bowl again and said with a smile, "Such brave boys. And thanks to my remedies, they always leave in better shape than when they arrive."

She then looked to Steve and said, "But your words are much appreciated."

"That's nice; are you almost done?" Aang asked, still trying to be polite while also feeling the need to hurry. Steve looked to the Airbender and nudged his arm while saying, "Aang."

"Hold on, I just need to add one last ingredient." The herbalist said as she moved to many plants. Then she looked amongst the greens as she said, "No… sandalwood…" She shook her head and kept searching, "Oh, let's… no, that won't do." Then she made a guess, "Banana leaf and… nope."

Aang's face fell and an eye twitched in impatient as she continued to look for the plant, "Gingerroot, uh-uh.

"Oh, where is that pesky little plant?" The herbalist questioned as she took her time. This made Aang groan and facepalm while Steve just stood there and watched the herbalist. He looked to Aang and said, "Don't worry, I'm sure our friends are doing fine."

"Hopefully." Aang said as he continued to think about them. Then a question popped into his head and asked, "I do have question?"

"Okay." Steve said. Aang then asked, "How come you left your shield back at your hideout?"

"I think it's because most metals attract lightning." Steve guessed. Then he shrugged as he said, "It's a science thing really."

x

The sun was beginning to set as Prince Zuko's ship sailed under the cloudy sky. The prince himself was on the deck and practiced his firebending techniques to relieve himself of the stress. He started with a fire punch. Then turned as he went with an overhead wave of fire, and then followed by a diagonal fire flow, a fire palm and a low fire punch. Then he turned the opposite direction with another fire punch and finished with a high fire kick.

"Is everything okay?" Iroh asked as stood there with his hands in his sleeves. He seemed concerned for Zuko as he said, "It's been almost an hour, and you haven't given the men an order."

"I don't care what they do." Prince Zuko snapped at Iroh before turning away.

"Don't give up hope yet." Iroh tried to elevate his nephew's spirits. The tried to reassure him by saying, "With the Winter Soldier by your side, you can still find the Avatar or the two Avengers before Zhao."

"How, Uncle?" Prince Zuko questioned in despair as he turned to face his uncle. He looked at the odds against him by saying, "With Zhao's resources, it's just a matter of time before he captures the Avatar or the Avengers.

"My honor, my throne, my country-" Prince Zuko thought about it if Zhao beats him. He turned to face the sea as he said, "I'm about to lose them all."

The Winter Soldier stood in the doorway, listening to their conversation.

x

The sun had nearly set over the herbalist institute. Inside the floral garden, Aang was slumped over a table with his head in his hands, Steve continued to watch the herbalist and the herbalist stood in front of a plate.

"Oh, here's what I was looking for…" Chuckling as she reached for a flower and said, "Plum blossom."

"Finally." Aang said as he stood straight. Steve looked to the young Airbender and asked, "Didn't the monks teach you about patience?"

Aang looked guilty and said, "They did, and I'm sorry if I was impatient."

"Eh, no worries." Steve said as the herbalist walked over it. The woman had just dropped the flower into the bowl when Aang suddenly grabbed it and said, "Thanks for all your help."

"Aang?" Steve said with a questionable look. The woman didn't like it as she smacked his hand with the spoon and said, "Hands off!"

"Ow!" Aang shouted as he backed away. The woman glared at the boy and questioned, "What do you think you're doing?"

"Taking the cure to my friends." Aang responded as an eyebrow twitched. Steve then asked Aang, "Wouldn't she have needed to mix the flower with rest of it?"

The old woman started laughing as she said, "This isn't a cure." Then setting the bowl down she said, "It's Miyuki's dinner." The cat started to eat while the old woman petted the cat's back and said, "Plum blossom is her favorite."

"What about our friends?" Aang asked, still having nothing to help them. The old woman had a smile as she then told them, "Well, all they need is some frozen wood frogs."

"Frogs?" Steve asked with a weirded out face. Then she told them where to find the amphibians, "There's plenty of them down in the valley swamp."

"What are we supposed to with frozen frogs?" Aang asked with a confused face. The old woman sounded crazy as she said, "Why, suck on them, of course."

"Suck on them?!" Aang and Steve questioned with grossed and weirded out faces, and the former's eye twitched. The herbalist then explained, "The frog skin excretes a substance that'll cure your friends," but then she warned, "but make sure you get plenty. Once those little critters thaw out, they're useless."

Aang, Steve and the herbalist stared at each other while Miyuki ate her dinner until Aang bluntly said, "You're insane, aren't you?"

Steve then shot Aang a look, but it dropped when the herbalist said with pride, "That's right."

She turned back to her cat before noticing that neither of the boys hadn't moved. With an annoyed glare she said, "Well, don't the two of you just stand there all day. Go!"

On the word 'go' she had flung a spoon of Miyuki's dinner at them. The food splattered against Aang's face and Steve's suit. The latter wiped it off while the former blinked his eyes open in surprise before turning to leave.

They ran outside the botanic hut, but before they could go very far, four arrows sailed through the air and pinned their feet to the ground. Steve fell to his knees while Aang tried to keep his balance, "Whoa!"

The Avatar fell to his knees as well, and they both looked up when they heard the sound of more arrows whizzing towards them. Aang's eye grew wide as he watched the arrows coming towards them and then remembered that Steve didn't have his shield with him. But before the arrows could reach either of them, Aang bent an air sphere around him and Steve that deflected each arrow. The deflected arrows then scattered about across the grounds, and were imbedded in either the ground or nearby tress. Aang dropped his shield and kneeled down to remove an arrow from his shoe.

Ripping the arrow out, he then held it up to the trees and said, "Uh, I think you dropped this."

"You and I both know that's not what happened!" Steve said as he lifted his legs to rip the arrows from his shoe. The archers in the trees readied more arrows and prepared to fire again. Aang and Steve's eyes went really wide as Aang's right eyebrow twitched.

Aang kneeled down and tried to remove the second arrow from his shoe. The arrow was deep in the ground, and so it made Aang's struggle futile. Acting quickly, Steve grabbed Aang by the shoulders and pulled him back. The action ripped the arrow out of Aang's shoe just as four more arrows embedded themselves in the ground.

The two ran out of the way another incoming four. Trying to run to the gate, both the Airbender and the super soldier had to stop when four more archers with arrows at the ready revealed themselves. Using their quick reflexes, Aang and Steve jumped over the incoming arrows. When they touched down on the ground again, they gasped when three new figures joined the archers at the gate. Steve instantly knew that these were Hydra soldiers and said to himself, "This is one of those times I wish I had my shield."

Quickly turning around, Aang and Steve started to run away from the assailants and were able to avoid any of the incoming arrows. Two lines of arrows formed a trail behind them as they ran. A loud bang went off, making Aang flinch as a bolt of energy shot right past them and blew a hole through a tree. Aang grimaced in fear as Steve then took a stick on the ground and flung it at the Hydra soldiers.

They turned another direction, but had to stop when they found themselves at a cliff. Knowing that there was no other way, they jumped over. Aang yelled as they dropped down. The soldiers and archers didn't let a cliff stand between them and their prize and jumped over as well. When the two neared the tree tops at the bottom, Aang tried use his airbending to slow their fall, but they still crashed into the foliage with grunts of pain. They continued as they rolled through the treetops, they tried to shield themselves from the branches with their arms.

The falling archers aimed an arrow before releasing it at a tree. They used a rope connected to the arrows and swung down to the ground, while the Hydra soldiers pulled a cord and opened their chutes and drifted down. When they reached the ground, they continued to pursue on foot while the archers stuck to the trees.

Aang and Steve moved from tree to tree as they made their way to the ground. At a crossing in the trees, Aang saw arrows flying at them and pulled Steve out of the way before they struck. They hopped down from one tree trunk to the next before breaking through the foliage. They yelled again as they dropped to the ground and looked to find themselves by the cold murky waters of the valley swamp. They quickly made their way in the water, and Aang yelped as he lost his footing in the deeper water.

"Aang!" Steve shouted. He reached down and pulled Aang up by his hand. The young Airbender took a gasp of air before looking to Steve with a grateful smile. Letting Aang go, the two began to search for the frogs. Aang reached down in the murky water, and brought it back up when he felt something in his grasp. When he brought his hand back up, he was both surprised and happy that he had pulled up, "A frog!"

Steve looked at it with a smirk, but an arrow knocked the frozen creature out of his hand. With a gasp from both, they looked back to see that they were running out of time. They moved quickly through the swamp water, and grabbed what frogs they could find and tucked them in either a shirt or their pockets. Aang reached own and pulled up a frog right as an arrow nearly hit his hand. Steve and Aang tried to hide near an overturned log, when an arrow embedded itself in his shirt. Three more arrows pinned the rest of his arm to the tree. The Airbender became scared from this and tried to pull his arm out. Steve moved to help Aang out, when three arrows pinned his own arm to the overturned tree.

They looked in front of them and gasped when the archers standing not so far away loose more arrows. With a startled yell, Aang used his waterbending to form an ice wall to protect him and Steve. Another loud bang burst through the air, and the wall of brown ice was destroyed. The archers then released another volley of arrows that pinned Aang and Steve's free arms to the tree, making them worry. Aang yelled when they shot nets over them and looked scared as the archers and soldiers came closer to him. But what they did next really made Aang and Steve worried. They heard a light clicking sound, a smaller bang, then felt something a stinging pain in their arms. The next thing they both saw was darkness.

x

It was close to night when Aang had regained consciousness. He looked up and scowled when he saw where he was. He saw that his rams were chained to two columns with burning torches at the top and his feet chained to the floor.

And that was the least of his worries, for outside his cell, two unmasked Fire Nation soldiers and two Hydra soldiers stood guard outside. Not to mention that he was inside Admiral Zhao's three walled fortress.

x

Steve blinked his eyes open and found his arms chained to two columns and his feet chained to the floor. He looked around and saw that he was in a metal room and his only light came from two torches at the top of the columns. His arms still felt like they were under he influence of whatever drug they injected into him. But not known to be one to give up, he started pulling on the chains on his arms. He stopped when he heard footsteps coming from outside the door to his cell.

x

Aang grunted as he tried to force his chains to come off as well. But stopped when he heard the door creak open. Admiral Zhao calmly walked in with his hands behind his back. He sounded disappointed as he looked Aang over and said, "So this is the great Avatar, master of all the elements." He smiled as he said, "I see that Hydra's serum has worn off."

"Where's my friend?" Aang angrily questioned, though it went unanswered.

The admiral then became serious again as he stood in front of Aang then said as he walked around the captured Avatar, "I don't know how you've managed to elude the Fire Nation for a hundred years, but thanks with the aid of Hydra, your little game of hide-and-seek," He stopped behind Aang and gloated, "is over."

"I've never hidden from you." Aang said with a glare. Then he dared the Firebender, "Untie me, and I'll fight you right now!"

"Uh, no." Zhao said as he moved back in front of Aang, knowing better. Then he turned towards Aang and made an emotional jab at the boy, "Tell me, how does it feel to be the only Airbender left?"

He came closer and questioned with a smirk, "Do you miss your people?"

Aang tried to keep up his look of defiance, but his face fell as he started to think about them. Zhao then said, "Oh, don't worry, you won't be killed like they were."

This made Aang look up at him with a glare. Zhao then made a point as he turned around, "See, if you die, you'll just be reborn, and the Fire Nation will have to begin its search for the Avatar all over again," Admiral Zhao then looked back as he said, "so I'll keep you alive…" Then he smirked as he added, "but just barely."

In retaliation to it, Aang took in a huge breath of air and then blew really hard. The blast of wind sent Zhao flying towards the door, and with a tumble in the air the man hit his back against the metal upside down with a grunt. He fell to his knees, shook his head and rubbed the sore area on his head before saying with a scowl, "Blow all the wind you want. Your situation is futile." He then looked confided as he said while opening the door, "There is no escaping this fortress," Aang's face fell as Zhao said with a glare, "and no one, not even your friend, is coming to rescue you."

Then without another word, the admiral slammed the door behind him.

x

Steve heard the slam of a door not too far from his cell. Then he heard the sound of footsteps approaching his cell door. With a glare he watched as the door opened and Admiral Zhao walked into the room. The admiral wasn't smiling, but confidently walked up to the chained super soldier and said, "So, Captain America, I presume."

"Yes." Was all that Steve said. Then he questioned, "Where's Aang?"

"You're in no position to be demanding anything." Zhao said, getting close to his face. Then he said, "You know it's funny." He turned away from Cap as he said, "The last time I saw you, you had put up more of a decent fight. But after the Hydra soldiers reported how easy it was to capture you." The admiral started to chuckle before saying, "I guess it was more of that fancy shield that makes you great."

"You wanna see how I fight without my shield." Steve challenged. Zhao gave him the same answer he said to Aang, "I don't think so.

"I've heard some interesting things about you from what records Johann Schmidt could give us." Zhao said as he backed away. Then he made the comment, "It's said that you were frozen for nearly seventy years, and it makes me wonder," The admiral looked back with a smirk, "how you feel, knowing that practically everyone you once knew is gone."

Steve glared at him as it clearly got under his skin. But the admiral didn't stop there by saying, "And to think that the only one left in your life is withering away."

"How did you or the Red Skull know that?" Cap angrily questioned. Zhao continued to smirk and said, "Let's just say that it was inside information."

That just made Steve more angry and he tried to snap his chains with brute force. Admiral Zhao smiled at how he was able to rattle his prisoners cage. Then Cap did something he thought he would never do, and spit on the admiral's face. The action caused Zhao to flinch back, and then taking a hand he wiped off his face. Then with a growl, he smacked Cap in his face. Cap looked back at the admiral as the Firebender turned to leave.

Then without another word he turned and left the room.

x

Back at the mountain ruins, the sick continued to cough. Appa was currently sleeping. When he was able to stop coughing, Sokka then begged, "Water."

"I could go for some water. Nice cool water." Natasha said with a blissful smile. Katara tried to keep their spirits up by saying, "Momo should be back any minute."

Said lemur came cooing in as he flew in. But he didn't have the water pouch with him. Instead he had a dead field mouse and held it before Katara. Then he placed it on her belly, making her groan and grimace from it. Katara then said, "No, Momo. Water." Then she said it slowly, "Wa… ter."

Momo chittered as if he understood this time and ran off again. Natasha then said without moving, "I bet he's gonna bring something else back."

This made Katara have a deadpanned look from the remark before saying, "And I'm willing to bet that he will get it right."

"We shall see." Natasha said with a small smirk. This seemed to infuriate Katara a little as she gave a small growl. But then her thoughts drifted to friends and asked, "Aang, Steve, what in the world is taking you two so long?"

x

Both Aang and Steve continued to stand in their cells, trying to think of a way to escape. But neither of them had any bright ideas.

x

Soldiers, both of the Fire Nation and Hydra, stood on each of the walls and kept watch for any signs of threats. But within the forest a few yards away, two masked individuals poked their heads to look out through the bushes and observed the fortress. After silently assessing on what to do they snuck back into the shadows.

x

A cargo carriage strolled down a dirt road towards the fortress. The Komodo rhino pulling the cart growled as it pulled it along. As it passed over a certain spot, four hands burst out of the ground and silently grabbed the underside of the cart. Both the Blue and Red Spirits held on tight as the continued to make its way towards the fortress. The masked spirits looked to each other while they waited to near the fortress. When they stopped, they looked to the sides as a soldier inspected the cart and said, "All clear."

A Hydra soldier came up with a Fire Nation soldier who had a torch in hand. They checked on side of the carriage before moving around to the other side. When they both kneeled down to check the under carriage, they found nothing. They stood straight and the Hydra soldier allowed entry, "All clear. Go on in."

With a flick of the reins, the Komodo rhino started moving again while pulling the cart with the two masked men inside. The two spirits looked to each other and turned in the direction the cart was going. The giant metal gates of the fortress rumbled open for the cart to go inside.

While soldiers were unloading the cart, the two masked spirits were able to sneak away and quietly made their way through the courtyard within the first two walls. When they saw that the coast was clear, they ran towards a doorway.

x

From a balcony high up on the tower, Admiral Zhao stepped out with both Colonel Shinu and an old man wearing orange tinted glasses. The admiral then spoke, "We are the sons and daughters of fire. The superior element. Until today, the only one thing stood in our path to victory-" He let the suspension build up before saying, "the Avatar!"

During the admiral's suspension build, the two masked spirits had snuck past a couple of guards in one of the battlements. As they continued to sneak along the walls of the fortress, Zhao continued his speech by assuring them, "I am here to tell you that he is now my prisoner!"

Every soldier present for the speech cheered thinking their victory was on much easier path. Zhao then raised a confident fist and shouted, "This is the year Sozin's Comet returns to grant us its power."

The soldiers of the Fire Nation cheered at the thought of the immeasurable power. Zhao then said something about their allies, "And with the additional aid of our esteemed allies of Hydra, we will be able to crush any resistance from the other two nations!"

This caused all the Hydra soldiers listening to raise a fist in approval. Then Zhao finished by shouting, "This is the year the Fire Nation and Hydra breaks through the walls of Ba Sing Se and burns the city to the ground!"

Any and all soldiers cheered for this, and Zhao had a smirk on his face. And as they continued to cheer, the two masked spirits had made their way to the back of the fortress and the red masked one threw down a rope. Making sure it was secure, both of them lowered themselves down to the courtyard grounds. They quietly ran down into a lowered section of the fortress that had gathered up all the rain water. They made their way to a small grate and squeezed through.

x

Happening at the same time in their cells, Aang and Steve were trying to break the chains. But they stopped when they felt movement, and the Airbender shouted, "What? No!" A partially thawed frog jumped out and Aang shouted, "Don't leave, frogs. My friends are sick and they need you."

"Oh, come on!" Steve hissed under his breath. He groaned as he had another problem to deal with. The frogs in Aang's cell croaked as they slowly made their escape as Aang shouted "Please go back to being frozen."

Steve could hear Aang shouting and guessed that his friend's cell wasn't too far form his. But both him and the Airbender became desperate as they started to pull on the chains again. Though Steve's chains were starting to loosen while Aang had a comical face while trying.

Standing outside the Avatar's cell, the four guards who were keeping guard heard the sound of croaking. They looked down with a, "Huh?"

All four looked down to see the partially frozen frogs crawling out from the underneath the crack of the door. Deciding that it wasn't that important, the four resumed their stoic faces as they kept watch again.

The guards outside of Cap's cell looked down to see the exact same thing. Cap was able to pull the chains loose and pulled the chains on his arms from their places. Then clashing his cuffs on his wrists really hard, he got the chains to break off. Quickly using his superhuman strength, Cap broke the chains off of his feet.

He quietly walked over to the door and quickly came up with a plan. Then he gave the metal door four good knocks. The guards on the other side looked to the door with questioning faces before the two Hydra soldiers informed the allies, "Be prepared for anything. It's said in the reports that the captain can be quite crafty."

The two Firebenders nodded and carefully opened the door. The four went in and gasped when they saw that he wasn't chained up any more. When they went to go back outside, a Hydra soldier met the receiving end of a fist. With a goofy smile, the man slumped down to the ground. The two Firebenders were about to use a double fire fist, but the captain jumped over their heads. When he landed he did a low sweep kick to knock them off their feet. The last Hydra soldier pulled out a knife and ran at the captain with a yell. Cap grabbed the man's wrist before flinging him over his shoulder. The soldier hit the metal wall with a bang.

With all of his enemies down, Cap ran through the door and closed it behind him. He stopped at an intersection and carefully looked down the adjoining hall and saw four guards like the ones he had. Both he and the guards at Aang's door were surprised when a Fire Nation helmet rolled around the corner.

"Hmm." One of the guards said as they found it odd. One of the Firebenders assumed a stance and went to the corner and walked down it. Cap pressed up against the wall as he came by his intersection. The super soldier watched as the guard walks while on guard down the hall, but became surprised when a blue masked figure dropped down from the ceiling and punched the soldier.

The three still guarding the Avatar's cell, became shocked when they heard the Fire Nation guard grunt and groan while defending himself with a blast of fire. The two Hydra soldiers readied their weapons and moved to investigate.

As they neared the intersection, Steve saw the weapons in their hands. The guards walked around the corner and were shocked when they found the guard suspended to the ceiling and gagged while missing his helmet. Cap tapped the wall behind him, making one of the Hydra soldiers look to the hall behind them and gasped when they saw Steve coming at him. The remaining guard at the door was startled when he saw a blur running through the intersection. Cap grabbed the Hydra soldier's wrist and swung him into the wall.

The other soldier turned and was about to open fire when another masked individual, one in a red mask. The Hydra soldier turned to look back and was struck hard by the Red Spirit's fist. The Blue Spirit then wrapped a rope around the Hydra soldiers' wrists and suspended them both up in the air.

The remaining guard, still spooked out by the blur, started to reach for the horn. But he when he had it he was stopped when a knife knocked the horn out of his hand. He looked up to see Cap standing beside the Blue and Red Spirits and threw a fire fist, but the Blue Spirit threw a bucket of water to douse the flames. This provided an opening to allow both Cap and the Red Spirit to rush the guard with a mirroring punch to the face.

The Blue Spirit walked up as the guard slumped over. Then acting quickly, the Blue and Red Spirits took a rope and bound the guard. Once that was done, Cap moved towards the door.

Aang was pulling on his chains again when he heard the commotion. He looed to the door as it creaked open. The Blue and Red spirits and Cap walked into the room while the Blue Spirit shut the door behind them. Aang gasped in fear when he saw the Blue Spirit unsheathe his blades. Cap looked back and was about to stop him when the Red Spirit placed a hand to stop him. Cap watched as Aang screamed while the masked spirit swung his swords wildly at him.

Aang continued to scream and then closed his eyes as he waited for it to end. But when the sword wielding spirit struck, a metallic thud caused Aang to open his eyes. He looked to his arms and saw that he had been freed. Even Steve sighed in relief from this. They watched as the Blue Spirits cut the wrist cuffs off of Aang. Then another swing freed Aang's feet. The two masked spirits then moved to walk out of the cell. Aang was still a little confused and asked, "Who are you guys? What's going on? Are you here to rescue me and Steve?"

He looked to the super soldier who could only shrug. They then started to follow the two masked spirits out. The spirits looked outside the cell and waved to signal that it was all clear. Thinking on the rescue, Aang said, "I'll take that as a yes on the rescuing question."

As Aang followed the other three out of the cell, he saw the bound and gagged Firebender trying to break free. The two masked spirits turned down the right hall as Aang and Steve came to the first intersection. The sound of croaking drew Aang's attention to the hall in front of them. Looking down, Aang looked surprised as he saw the nearly thawed frogs crawling to escape.

"My frogs!" Aang shouted. Cap winced at this and quietly said, "Aang, you have to remember to be quiet."

But Aang didn't as he said, "Come back! And stop thawing out!" He gasped when the frogs were able to jump out of his hands. Steve looked to see the Blue Spirit come back and grab Aang by his shirt and dragged him away while the boy shouted, "Wait! My friends need to suck on those frogs!"

Steve noticed that the Red Spirit had stayed behind and was looking to Cap. Cap thought this was about the frogs and said, "I know it sounded weird, but it wasn't really my idea."

x

It was late at night at the ruined city. Momo purred as he flew back to the hiding place. The hiding place had been filled with many items. And Katara had been covered in some of those items. Sokka and Nat continued to shiver from their fevers. Momo came in and dropped a crown on her head. Katara then questioned, "How many times do I have to tell you, Momo? We need water." Then she said it slow again, "Wa… ter."

Momo's ears twitched and Katara then just sighed before saying, "Oh, forget it."

"I told you that it was pointless." Nat sang. Katara scowled at this and said, "Oh, who asked you?"

But then her thoughts drifted back and said, "Aang, Steve, please hurry."

"Who are these Aang and Steve people you keeping talking about, your highness?" A delusional Sokka asked. This made Katara really irritated, and even more when Natasha said, "Maybe there friends who like to bring her cake."

Katara groaned at this before trying to get some more rest.

x

Back at the Fire Nation fortress, Aang, Steve and the two masked spirits continued to sneak through the fortress. While the guards patrolled above them, Aang and Steve followed the two masked spirit's lead and kept to the shadows of the water drain. The four of them slowly kept quiet and moved fast from one end of the storm drain to the other.

When they reached the middle of the drain, one of the masked spirits slowly brought himself up to where he could check for trouble. He saw a single guard with a spear walking away in one direction, three guards talking amongst themselves and even more guards patrolling the guards. The Blue Spirit lowered himself and pointed up to signal that it was all clear. Then one by one, the four quickly climbed out of the storm drain and quickly ran.

x

Meanwhile, inside the fortress, Admiral Zhao proudly walked through the halls with the old man wearing orange tinted glasses and the small moustache. Zhao then told the man, "I want a full transcription of my speech sent to the Fire Lord and Johann Schmidt, along with glowing testimonials from all of the ranking officers present. And…"

A sudden noise made Zhao stop in mid-sentence, and both he and the old man looked to their left. They were surprised and shocked to see the guards dangling and groan. Zhao's surprised face turned into a scowl as he turned his eyes to the Avatar's cell.

He quickly forced the door open, and a shocked Admiral Zhao found the cell to be empty. Though not completely as a lone frog sat on the floor. He then ran to the other cell and opened the door. He found the guards to Captain America's cell lying on the floor and another frog sitting on one of the unconscious guards. It croaked up to an angry Zhao as the admiral's eye twitched in agitation. Admiral Zhao then turned and ran through the fortress halls. The old man quickly looked into the room, then understanding the situation he asked, "Um, excuse me, sir? Shall I hold off on sending that speech to the Fire Lord?"

"Even though it was a little preachy." The old man muttered under his breath while running. The frogs then started to hop after them as well.

x

The escaping four had reached the spot where the rope dangled. The masked spirits and Cap allowed Aang to go up first and then followed right behind one by one. But when they were halfway up the rope, an alarm bell rings out while a siren blares. The noises rang throughout the fortress grounds. A guard spotted them on the wall and shouted, "Over there!"

"On the wall!" Another guard shouted. A guard with a sword ran to the top of the rope and cut it in one swipe. Aang yelled as he and the others fell back to the ground. But before any of them could hit the ground, Aang created an air sphere under them and used it to cushion their fall. Cap looked to the other three and said, "So much for taking the stealthy way out."

The two masked spirits readied their weapons. The Blue Spirit unsheathed the blades from his back while the Red Spirit removed a machine gun from his back. Aang and Cap looked at the rifle and thought that it looked a little familiar.

The Blue Spirit used one of his broadswords to point at the gates, indicating that it was their only way out. All four of them made a break for it.

Admiral Zhao ran out on the balcony and shouted, "The Avatar has escaped!" Then he quickly ordered, "Close all the gates immediately!"

"All of you stay close to me." Aang shouted as he ran in front of the group. A force of guards consisting of both Hydra and the Fire Nation formed a line with spears pointing at them. As they came closer, Aang jumped in the air before releasing a blast of air at the guards. The strong winds was powerful enough to throw the soldiers back. As they neared the gate, Cap and the two masked Spirits had to stop and fight when the soldiers came at them.

The Blue Spirit used his swords to block and cut off the spear heads that came at him. The Red Spirit raised the machine gun and shot at those at a distance, knocking them off their feet. Cap ducked under a spear before round house kicking three soldiers at once. Meanwhile, Aang had to skid to a stop when he realized that he wouldn't make it to the closing gates. He looked back to see Steve and their masked allies in trouble. The young Airbender was so distracted that he nearly didn't see a spear coming at him. He yelped in fright and moved to the side. Then grabbing the spear with both hands, he blasted the guard away with an air blast from his foot. Aang looked to the spear tip before breaking off the end, still not wanting to hurt anyone too bad. Then as the gates closed with a bang, Aang ran back to help his friends.

The swordsman spirit quickly moved about, slicing spear heads off. When one spear came at him, the Blue Spirit sliced down the wood. The Red Spirit bashed the butt of the machine gun to one guard's face before grabbing the wrist of a Hydra soldier and gave it a sickening twist. As the Hydra soldier screamed in pain, the Red Spirit grabbed the man by the back of his shirt and threw him into three incoming soldiers. Cap used the spear to parry an incoming spear heads before using a sweep kick to knock the soldier off his feet. A quick blur came and knocked away the rest of the guards.

Then stood before all three of them and used a big swing of the makeshift staff to send all three men hurling towards the top of the inner wall. Cap was startled a little from being sent flying while all three landed on the wall with a roll. They back up and prepared to defend themselves as more guards with spears came at them. But Aang, came in spinning the makeshift staff and grabbed the Blue Spirit with his legs.

Aang gave a strained grunt as he tried to hold on to the Blue Spirit and spin the makeshift staff. From down on the ground, the guards tried to throw their spears at them, but the Blue Spirit was able to deflect them with his broadswords. As they neared the middle wall, the Blue Spirit kept defending them from the incoming spears. When they were close enough to the wall, Aang yelled as they fell and tumbled on to the wall. The Blue Spirit recovered his broadswords while Aang picked the broken spear again. Both Aang and the Blue Spirit looked back over to the inner wall before keeping the guards busy as they waited for the final two members of their group.

The Red Spirit then motioned for him to wait. The confused captain did as he was asked and waited as the Red Spirit was about to switch the barrel when two Hydra soldiers came rushing at them. Cap jumped over the Red Spirit and fly kicked one soldier while the other unsheathed a knife. The super soldier used his arm to block the soldier's blade arm before moving to where the Hydra soldier stumbled past him and fell over the wall. Then looking back over to the Red Spirit, he saw that the machine gun's regular barrel had been replaced with one that had a grappling hook. The Red Spirit then stood up, took aim and fired to the middle fortress wall. The grappling hook flew over the courtyard between the two wall and hooked itself on the other side. Then placing the machine gun to where the line would be secure, the Red Spirit motioned for Cap to use it to shimmy to the next wall. Cap went first and quickly shimmied from one side to the other. When he reached the other side, he saw Aang and the Blue Spirit defending themselves while they waited for Cap and the Red Spirit.

Cap looked back on the other side of the cable and waited for the Red Spirit to cross. As the masked man made his way over, Cap saw that the spirit's left sleeve had fallen a little and was surprised and shocked when he saw a glint of metal and thus he uttered one word, "Bucky."

He then looked over to the Blue Spirit and guessed that it could only be Zuko. But his thoughts were interrupted as more soldiers came in his line of sight. Cap jumped back from a jab from a spear, grabbed it with both hands, then used his super human strength to send the soldier over the other side of the wall. Cap looked back to the disguised Bucky and saw that his friend had nearly made it to their side. But then he gasped when he saw a Hydra soldier with a knife appear on the other side of the cable line.

In one swift motion, the Hydra soldier cut the line, and the Red Spirit was nearly sent falling. Cap acted quickly and grabbed the right hand of the falling spirit. Then with his super human strength, Cap lifted him back onto the wall. The sound of a click caused Cap to look to his left and gasped when he saw a Hydra soldier holding a pistol. But before the soldier could take a shot, another bang rang throughout the fortress. Cap watched as the Hydra soldier fell to the ground and then looked to the Red Spirit and saw him holding his own pistol. Then with a shake of his head, Cap pulled the Red Spirit all the way back up.

From the fortress grounds, the soldiers of both the Fire Nation and Hydra came running up with flexible ladders. When they reached the base of the wall, and with the ladders' flexibility, the guards at the front were able to walk up the wall. Six soldiers ran up with wall with six ladders.

Cap looked over the edge of the wall and informed, "We got company."

The Blue Spirit knocked a Fire Nation soldier off of one ladder while the Red Spirit smacked a Hydra soldier with the butt of his weapon. Cap flipped a guard over the wall while Aang used a blast of air on two other guards. Then jumping on the edge of the wall he sent a blast of air that knocked all of the soldiers off the ladder and onto the ground. The soldiers on the next ladder had braced themselves and when they looked up they saw that Aang was about to do it again. The soldier at the top of the ladder wailed in fear before he and the other men were also blasted back down to the ground. Cap and the two masked spirits had just knocked the last of the guards off of the other ladders when Aang ran up to the Blue Spirit and told the other two, "Watch what we do."

Then turning to the Blue Spirit with a ladder and shouted, "Take this!"

The Blue Spirit took one of the ladders in hand, not fully knowing what Aang's plan was. Cap and the Red Spirit followed suit with the other three ladders with Cap jumping on the Red Spirit's back. Aang jumped on another ladder and shouted to the Blue Spirit, "Jump on my back!"

The Blue Spirit didn't hesitate and held onto Aang as the ladder leaned with terrified Fire and Hydra soldiers clinging on for dear life. The four of them used the ladders as makeshift long legs to get them across the courtyard to the final wall. Aang and the Red Spirit used the second ladder to go further as the first with the soldiers fell to the ground. When Aang and the Blue Spirit were about to tip over on the second, Aang shouted, "Give me the next one!"

The Blue Spirit then handed the ladder down while the Red Spirit took his second from Cap. As they balanced themselves on their third long leg, two Firebenders came and set the ladders ablaze. The fire quickly spread to the top of the ladder, forcing Aang and the Red Spirit to jump with their passengers on their backs. They were able to at least make it to the wall, but when Aang and the Red Spirit grabbed a hold, they couldn't hang on and slipped. Cap and the Blue Spirit tried to hold on, but they unfortunately fell to the ground.

Aang, Cap and the Blue and Red Spirits fell to the ground with Aang yelling as they fell. Aang and Cap grunted in pain when they hit the ground. Both the Blue and Red Spirits stood up and readied their respective and secondary weapons as the guards surrounded them. Three Firebenders sent streams of fire at them, causing Aang to jump in front of his friends and form an air shield around them.

"Hold your fire!" Admiral Zhao ordered while walking up to the scene. He pointed out to his forces, "The Avatar must be captured alive."

Upon hearing that, the Blue and Red Spirits quickly acted as the Blue Spirit placed Aang in a hold with his blades in an 'x' formation against the Airbender's neck and making Aang grunt in panic. Cap moved to help his friend, but was stopped when the Red Spirit grabbed the super soldier with his left hand and held a pistol up to the side of his head. This caused Cap to look to his friend, not knowing what he would do.

This created a standoff with the Blue Spirit and Zhao staring at each other. Admiral Zhao then slowly ordered, "Open the gate."

"Admiral, what are you doing?" Colonel Shinu questioned. But Zhao wasn't in the mood as he snapped, "Let them out. Now!"

The order was complied as the gates rumbled open behind the four. When it was opened wide enough, the Blue and Red Spirits led Aang and Steve out of the fortress by walking backwards. Shinu then questioned the scowling Zhao, "How could you let them go?"

"A situation like this requires…" Admiral Zhao explained as a grin formed when he said with deadly intent, "precision."

The Blue and Red Spirits had led Aang and Cap a good distance away from the fortress. Cap tried to think of a way to get him and Aang out of this situation. But they continued to walk backwards.

On the outer wall of the fortress, Admiral Zhao stood between two Yu Yan archers as they readied their bows. Without turning his head to either of them, Zhao continued to watch with patience and asked, "Do both of you have a clear shot?"

The archers didn't say anything as they took aim. Admiral Zhao then ordered, "Knock out the thieves. I'll deliver them to the Fire Lord and Johann Schmidt, along with the Avatar and the captain." Zhao turned his head to Shinu and said, "I'm willing to bet that Johann will be interested to hear that one of his agents went rogue, or that his weapons have fallen into the wrong hands."

The Colonel only nodded to agree. The archers waited one more moment before releasing their arrows. The arrows flew fast through the air before hitting the Blue and Spirits in the head with a clang.

Aang and Cap looked back to the downed spirits and the former's eye grew wide when he saw a face under the Blue Spirit's mask. His eyes started to tremble when he noticed a scar where the eye was. Cap kneeled down to the Red Spirit and looked up to Aang and said, "Give me a hand with them, Aang."

Aang then used his airbending to throw up a smoke screen. Zhao saw the cove and ordered, "Quick, recover the Avatar and the Avenger!"

Aang kneeled down, turned the Blue Spirit's head and slowly removed the mask, uncovering the face of an unconscious Prince Zuko. Cap watched as Aang jumped back with a gasp before looking to Steve and asked, "Did you know?"

"Only during the escape." Cap replied. The super soldier then lifted Bucky onto his shoulder before saying to Aang, "Come on, we can't just leave them."

Aang looked down to Zuko and thought about how he and Bucky had risked their lives to save him and Steve. Then he thought about what would happen if they had fallen into Zhao's clutches. As the guards came running up the path, Aang quickly picked Zuko and his swords up.

When the soldiers came on the spot as the dust settled, they were surprised when they found nothing. From up on the battlement, Zhao was truly infuriated as he scowled at the fact that he had lost all of them. But his scowl fell when he heard a croak. Looking down, everyone saw a frog sitting on the floor. The frog then jumped onto the wall before jumping down to the far ground.

x

It was sometime later as Bucky started to regain consciousness. Opening his eyes, he found himself laying on a bed of leaves. He looked to see that Zuko and his mask had been removed. Then he saw the prince was starting to wake up. They both looked farther to the right and saw Aang and Steve sitting up against the tree. Aang, noticing that they were awake he said, "You know what the worst part about being born over one hundred years ago is?"

They didn't answer and he didn't mind as he continued, "I miss all the friends I used to hang out with." Aang then recalled an old friend, "Before the war started, I used to always visit my friend Kuzon."

Aang smiled as he remembered, "The two of us, we'd get in and out of so much trouble together." He looked away as he said, "He was one of the best friends I ever had."

"I do know the feeling." Steve said as he recalled his friends from the war, "Me and him," He gestured to Bucky, "we hung out with a rowdy crew during the war."

Aang then looked to Prince Zuko and said, "And he was from the Fire Nation, just like you."

It seemed as if Zuko was thinking about what Aang was saying. And Bucky was trying to think of the memories he had with Steve. Aang then asked Zuko, "If we knew each other back then, do think we could have been friends, too?"

The two men just laid there before the Winter Soldier quickly stood up and made a jump-grab at the two. Steve and Aang jumped back, but had to quickly jump out of the way as Prince Zuko shot a fireball at them. Aang used his airbending to launch Steve into the trees. Then following him into the branches, Zuko and Bucky watched as their targets made a full retreat while jumping through the tree branches to get away. Prince Zuko's face fell as he started to think about Aang's words. The Winter Soldier was feeling the same way as he looked to the ground.

x

Aang and Steve returned to the valley swamp where they had been chased by the archers and soldiers. Dipping their hands in the cold and murky waters again and they were successful as they found more of the frozen frogs.

x

It was a few hours past sunrise as Prince Zuko's smaller boat was pulled back into the main ship. Both Prince Zuko and the Winter Soldier walked across the deck and past Iroh as he played the Sunghi horn next to the creepy monkey idol. He stopped playing and looked at the two, "Where have the two of you been, Prince Zuko?" They kept walking as he told them, "The both of you missed music night." He sounded extra happy as he said from an artist's point of view, "Lieutenant Jee sang a stirring love song."

"We're going to bed." Prince Zuko informed over his shoulder. Then he said while rubbing his head, "No disturbances."

General Iroh did find it odd, but he didn't say anything as he continued to play the Sunghi horn.

x

Back at the hideout, Aang and Steve trudged in and looked at all the gathered items that Momo had brought in while trying to please Katara. But they didn't say anything while walking over to their friends. Aang went to Katara and Sokka while Steve went to Natasha as the Airbender said, "Suck on these. They'll make you feel better."

Natasha, Katara and Sokka did as they were told and started sucking on their 'medicine'. Steve and Aang walked to Appa's tail and laid down with a sigh. Sokka looked to the two's direction and asked, "Aang, Steve, how was your trip? Did you guys make any friends?"

"No, I don't think we did." Aang said as he turned to the right to get some rest. Steve did the same as he thought about his best friend. Steve then said to Aang, "After some rest, we let them know."

"Sounds like a plan." Aang said with a yawn.

x

In his room, Prince Zuko laid on his cot and looked up at the ceiling as he thought about the events that had just transpired. Then he took one look at the Fire Nation insignia before turning away and closing his eyes to sleep.

x

In his own room, the Winter Soldier, or Bucky, was really starting to think about what Aang said as more memories of him and Steve came back to him. He laid down and closed his eyes, trying to sleep it off.

x

In the office of the three walled Fire Nation fortress. The old man was with Zhao as he sat in his chair thinking. Then without turning, the Admiral said to the man, "Write this message for Johann: that there appears to be a traitor in the midst of Hydra's ranks. And tell him that my proof is that I have seen a man with a Hydra stun gun, for no Fire Nation soldier in the fortress carried one."

He stood up as the old man continued to write down. Then he looked up at the new Fire Nation flag; the symbol of fire, tattooed on the forehead of the insignia of Hydra.

x

As the three sick continued to suck on their medicine, Sokka clearly enjoyed it as he said, "Mm. This is tasty."

"You said it, Sokka." Natasha agreed. Katara didn't say a word, but clearly thought the same thing with the smile on her face.

But all their satisfaction would turn to disgust as the frog thawed out and started wriggling in his mouth while croaking. The Water Tribe teen's eye started to twitch before spitting the frog out. Katara noticed that her frog thawed out too and screamed, opening her mouth to let the frog jump out. Natasha felt sick again as she spat her frog out. Steve watched with a raised eyebrow as the three coughed and gagged from having frogs in their mouths. He looked down from watching the girls brush their tongues with their hands and Sokka licking the fur on Appa's leg to see Momo chasing one of the frogs.

x

**This story's dedication to:**

**Stan Lee: 1922 – 2018**

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Author's Note: This is just a little redo to see if you like this or the original version better. I have a little poll planned for this chapter. It will decide the future of Book One of Avenging Avatar. And those who do vote, I wish that you give the reason for your vote in the reviews. I look forward to reading your reviews. Be sure to leave a comment either about if I've done something wrong or if you want something specifically to happen. See you next time.


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